Heat
by Solo Ensemble
Summary: Manny Ruiz wreaks his own unique brand of havoc on Port Charles meanwhile, Elizabeth, Patrick, Epiphany and Jason all land in jail. I suck at these summaries.
1. 01

**Note: **Okay, I finally have an angle for this title and I will do everything in my power to get this posted to completion by May 28, but that's crunch time for me with the end of the term papers, exams, etc. So we'll see what happens. Also, I've got this planned to the end, and if I touch on anything that becomes a spoiler, then it is entirely coincidental and I am NOT trying to spoil any SFs. Thank you and enjoy the story; it won't be too long. Cookies for anyone who finds the Debbie Downer allusion!

A warning for readers: This fic doesn't have the traditional narrative opening, nor will it have the traditional narrative closure. If you're looking for a nice, clean ending with all the loose ends tied up, look elsewhere because I'm pulling an _Orlando_; life goes on after the end of the tale, and what happens next is entirely up to your imagination.

This title was proposed by **Julie/Jeweltones**.

* * *

**Heat 01**

She was beautiful in the moonlight.

His dark eyes followed her slight figure as the brunette approached the ledge, skimming her fingers over the stone as she looked out at the twinkling town that lay beneath her feet. She had that exquisite porcelain skin that just tossed off the light, making her glow in the darkness. And her eyes – such innocent eyes. She was a dreamer, this one. And he thought she was beautiful in the moonlight.

Resituating the black bag slung over his shoulder, Manny Ruiz stealthily ascended the fire escape, his eyes focused on sweet Elizabeth. Sweet Elizabeth, who had stolen away from the charity auction for a moment of solace and reprieve on the balcony under the moon. If sweet Elizabeth knew what was good for her, she'd turn on her silver stilettos and go right back inside the banquet room at the Metrocourt.

He was about to hoist himself up onto the roof of the building when he heard a series of soft clicks in the quiet of the night. Manny stilled, slowing his breathing as he craned his ears toward the sound and listened. He heard soft rustling noises and a few more muted clicks – the undeniable sound of a sniper's tripod. He would know, because he carried one with him right now.

Lowering his bag onto the metal landing of the fire escape, Manny gripped the ledge with his gloved hands and slowly pulled himself up so he could see onto the rooftop. He scanned the roof and his obsidian eyes instantly landed on a man dressed similarly to himself, crouching in the corner with a tripod already set up. He wore a black skullcap, black cargo trousers and a fitted black sweater. His hands were also gloved as he assembled his rifle, and Manny watched as the other man fumbled with the parts.

The moon was full tonight, and he was glad for that because when the man stretched his arm out to glance at his watch, Manny was able to distinguish the black snake tattoo on his wrist. The mark of the Escobar organization.

With the grace, agility, and stealth of a cat, Manny pushed himself up onto the ledge and dismounted quietly, his favorite black boots not making a sound when he came down onto the cement. The sniper remained oblivious, too focused on his task to notice that he wasn't alone. He was most probably a rookie – a young man that the Escobar guards had plucked off the docks and trained briefly before sending out to do the dirty work.

The sniper was all set now – he had assembled his weapon of choice and had balanced it on his tripod and was now looking through the crosshairs at his target, who was still enjoying the moonlight and the summer breeze. The young man shifted his weight on the balls of his feet, trying to get into a good position as he crouched on the rooftop behind his rifle.

Manny didn't bother to conceal himself and instead simply walked forward toward the sniper, stretching out the rope that he kept in his side pouch. Elizabeth traced little designs on the stone ledge with her polished index finger – she had opted not to splurge on a professional manicure – and remained oblivious to the danger she was in, but Manny wasn't worried.

The sniper's finger was ready for the trigger as he finished framing the shot and took one last look at the petite brunette. She was not the target of the Escobar family's anger; she was meant to be a message. It wasn't her fault, the poor girl. She was just mixed up in the wrong company and was now forced to pay for the sheer ineptitude and stupidity of those who cared for her.

But the Escobar men had yet to realize that Manny Ruiz was neither inept nor stupid, and that he _did_ care for the young woman. In a flash, he had the rope around the young sniper's neck and skillfully ended it before the man could even fight back. Satisfied that he had squeezed the last breath from his trachea, Manny let the limp sniper's body fall to the concrete and stood back to survey his work.

Sweet Elizabeth still stood basking in the glow of the moon, unaware of the literal bullet she had just dodged. Manny smirked to himself at her girlish ways as he dragged the sniper's body a short distance away and then resumed his spot. There was no need to set up his own equipment; not when he had what Mr. Escobar had so generously provided.

Peering through the crosshairs, Manny noticed that Corinthos' mid-life crisis, the ex-princess Emily Quartermaine, had joined her friend on the balcony. The two women were engaged in conversation as Elizabeth stared out thoughtfully at the dark skies, and Manny waited patiently until they both returned to the party.

From his vantage point on the roof, he could almost distinguish another petite brunette in a white dress, guzzling champagne near the French doors that opened out into the night. He adjusted his black gloves, clenching and unclenching his fingers to ensure the best fit.

Morgan should be arriving at any moment; if he waited patiently, he would be rewarded.

And sure enough, ten minutes later, Manny was watching as the enforcer handed a note to a waitress and asked her to deliver it. He crouched down behind the tripod, knowing that the moment was upon him when the brunette appeared to meet her lover. He watched as the couple embraced, his own finger embracing the trigger, and a sadistic grin tugged at his lips as he watched the enforcer spin her around in the crosshairs.

_Click_.

He pulled back, satisfied, when Jason lifted his hand and found blood on his fingers. Lingering a moment longer to fully enjoy the look of horror and desperation on the stoic enforcer's face, Manny crept alongside the edge of the building and slipped down onto the fire escape.

Safe and out of sight, he craned his neck and watched Jason scoop the young woman into his arms and race toward the three medical professionals conversing inside the banquet room.

"Somebody help! Sam's been shot!"

Manny couldn't help it – he chuckled. Noah Drake was laying his coat down on the floor, Monica Quartermaine was checking for an exit wound – and Manny Ruiz was _laughing_. His twinkling eyes landed on a young woman in a pale green minidress as she helped Jason brace himself against the doorjamb, lingering there to offer her support.

With a smile, he retrieved his unopened bag and slipped down the fire escape. "Goodnight, sweet Elizabeth. You can thank me later."

* * *

It was official – Sam McCall would not be having children.

Elizabeth sighed as she made her way back to the main desk. She didn't even want to think about what Jason must have been going through at the moment. The look in his eyes when he signed the consent form she offered was all she needed. It was a terrible decision to make, and her heart went out to him in his time of loss. She knew personally how badly Sam wanted children, and how devastated she was when her daughter died.

She slammed the binder she held down on the desk, prompting a look from Epiphany. Life just plain sucked.

"Dr. Lee, I need to know – what's going to happen to my daughter?"

Elizabeth turned over her shoulder to see Alexis Davis pursuing Kelly. It had come as quite a shock to learn that Sam was actually the District Attorney's daughter, but as a medical professional, she couldn't pay attention to that bit of gossip at the expense of her job. She learned new and strange things every day at General Hospital; all she had to do was learn to roll with the punches. They weren't paid to stand around the water cooler, but to remain professional at all times and serve the patient as best they could.

"The surgery was a success, but Sam's not out of the water, yet." Kelly led Alexis over to the lounge, and Elizabeth watched as the two women sat down on the red couch. From the stern look on her friend's face, she knew that whatever the news was, it was very, very bad.

When Alexis got up from her seat and raced down the hallway to her daughter's room in tears, Elizabeth knew she had been right. Kelly sighed and shuffled over to the desk, her expression weary and dejected.

"How bad is it?"

"Spinal compression and cranial edema," the Vietnamese doctor replied, crossing her arms over the edge of the desk and resting her chin. "Between you and me…I don't think she's going to make it."

"But – isn't there _something_ that can be done?"

"We can wait for the medication to resolve it," Kelly sighed, "but the chances are very slim. And the procedure is too risky – she'd hemorrhage before it was completed."

Elizabeth's eyes widened and she leaned closer to her friend, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial level. "But – there _is_ a procedure?"

The other woman nodded absently. "Yeah, but, like I said, it's too risky. The only one who stands a chance at getting it done right is Patrick Drake."

"And he's out of the country," Elizabeth finished with a frustrated sigh, swiping her bangs out of her face.

"But…" Kelly's lips were puckered as she thought. "If you can call him and get him to come down here, I can talk to Alexis and see if she's willing to go through with it."

"I'm on it," Elizabeth nodded, and Kelly pushed herself away from the desk and took off down the hallway.

"-Thanks for lending me that book, Lucky," she heard a young woman's voice from a few paces away. "It's really great – I just can't put it down. You're not getting it back for, like, another two weeks, so deal."

"Maxie," Elizabeth smiled, waving the girl over as she reached for her own cell phone to get in touch with Patrick. Hopefully, reception was good on the Markham Islands. "Is that Lucky on the line?"

The blonde nodded, looking rather impatient as Elizabeth flipped to her speed dial menu. "Yeah – do you need me to tell him something?"

Elizabeth nodded absently. Maxie and Lucky had been helping each other deal with Jesse's death a few weeks ago, and their shared grief had been excellent therapy for the two of them. Maxie checked in with Lucky every so often, and he genuinely seemed to enjoy his conversations with the young woman. She had even helped Elizabeth help Lucky with his addiction to morphine, and for that, she was very grateful.

"Tell him that there's been a shooting and I won't be home til late tonight, okay?" The brunette turned her back when Maxie nodded, moving out of the way so that Epiphany could get to the charts stacked on the counter. "Thanks, hon."

"No problem," Maxie called out sweetly, rolling her eyes behind Elizabeth's back. "Hey, Lucky, you still there?…Yeah. I'm so going to hold you to that, Buddy…You'll see, I have my ways. I can be _very_ persuasive…Uh-huh. Listen, I just talked to your wife and…yeah, I _told_ you I was at the hospital. Anyway, I just talked to her and she said that there's been a shooting…no, uh, Sam McCall. She was brought in by Monica…the Bachelor Auction at the Metrocourt…You didn't know about that?…Yeah."

"Patrick?"

Maxie winced, knowing that Lucky would be able to faintly hear his wife's voice.

"Yeah, it's Elizabeth. Listen, I know you and Robin are really busy, but I need you-" He had cut her off in mid-sentence, and Elizabeth quickly interjected once more. "No, wait, don't hang up. Listen, you have to get back here, okay? I will do _whatever_ it takes to make that happen…yeah. You're the only one, Patrick…Okay, good, thank you, thank you. I'll be waiting for you. Bye."

The blonde cleared her throat and edged away down the hall away from the nurses' station. "Anyway, she says she'll be really late tonight, so….yeah. Okay. That's fine. Later."

She took one last look at Elizabeth over her shoulder as she flipped her pink cell phone shut and slipped it into her bag. Normally, she found it difficult to have a conversation with Elizabeth and tried her best to slink away as soon as she possibly could. But as she studied the brunette now, she didn't feel any guilt. It served the wench right for cheating on her husband with Patrick Drake for the past month.


	2. 02

**Note: **Thanks for the feedback! I appreciate it. I'm going to do my best to continue to crank out chapters of this just so I can get back to The Battle – because let's face it: that's the most important thing here, after all. :P

* * *

**Heat 02**

"Absolutely not."

Jason and Elizabeth stared at Alexis as the District Attorney crossed her arms and stood protectively next to Sam's bedside. The brunette could sense Jason's shock and outrage, and moved quickly to help Kelly contain the situation.

"Alexis, the surgery is Sam's best chance. Yes, it's risky, but-"

"Elizabeth, I know you're well-intentioned," the older woman replied softly but firmly as her husband shifted his weight behind her. "But the last time I checked, you were a _nurse_."

"And _I'm _a doctor," Kelly pointed out, "and _I'm_ the one telling you that the surgery could save your daughter's life."

"It's too risky," Noah Drake growled, slipping his hands into the pockets of his surgical coat. "Sam will die on the operating table long before I can get at the root of the problem."

"Dr. Drake, thank you for your opinion," the Vietnamese doctor replied testily, "but with all due respect, you're not the one performing the surgery."

"I'm the senior-most neurosurgeon in this hospital," he reminded her gruffly. "As long as my son's off larking about on an island, _I'm_ the one who's going to be doing this."

"I got in touch with Patrick," Elizabeth cut in, glaring at the surly older doctor when he frowned at her. She knew what this was about – it was a pissing contest between father and son. Noah had fallen into the bottle while Patrick worked his way to the top to become the brilliant surgeon he was, and now the older Drake had to protect his wounded ego and win back some pride by asserting his medical prowess over his son. "He said he was on his way back, and that was a few hours ago. He'll be arriving on the helicopter dock any minute now, and he _will_ be able to do the surgery."

"It's too dangerous!" Noah shot back, fed up with the rookie nurse's impertinence. "My son may not realize it, but he's not God, nor is he a miracle-worker. Your daughter could very well die on the operating table. If we wait for the meds to take effect, there's a possibility that this will resolve itself and she'll recover."

"The odds of that happening are unfavorable," Kelly interrupted gently, knowing that this was a terrible ordeal for Alexis but having a hard time reining in her temper all the same. "But the decision is yours, Ms. Davis."

Alexis pursed her lips, closing her eyes briefly when she felt her husband's arm encircle her waist. "I'm not going to allow the surgery."

* * *

"Patrick!"

Elizabeth Webber shot out of the nurse's station as soon as she spotted her friend tearing down the hallway toward her. They met each other halfway, both out of breath.

"Okay, the reception was terrible – so tell me again what happened."

She took a deep breath, already grabbing his arm and taking him to see the charts and X-rays. "There was a shooting at Carly's charity auction – Jason was on the balcony with Sam and someone got her from behind. She had emergency surgery and they had to perform a hysterectomy, but now she's facing spinal compression and cranial edema. Kelly thinks you can perform another surgery to save her life, and your father wants to wait it out and hope that the meds take effect. So far, Alexis agrees with him."

"What do I care what the D.A. thinks?"

Elizabeth pushed through the door to where Sam's X-rays hung against an illuminated screen and looked at her friend over her shoulder. "Because Alexis Davis is Sam's mother."

Patrick stared at her for a moment as if convinced that she was joking, then shook his head. "Unbelievable. People are always dying, coming back from the dead, or sprouting new family ties in this town. There's got to be something in the water." He studied the X-rays carefully, paying attention to the notes that his interns had jotted down on the side.

Elizabeth watched him carefully, nibbling her bottom lip. "Do you think you can do it?"

After a long moment, the young doctor nodded. "I think I can."

"…But you're not sure?"

He sighed and swung down to look at her. "…I'm not sure. But it's the best chance Sam has – the statistics for the meds actually working in a case like this aren't favorable. She has to undergo surgery if she's going to live."

"Great," Elizabeth sighed, following him out of the dark room. "Now all we have to do is convince Alexis of that."

* * *

Patrick Drake had always been a model citizen. He never drove after drinking, he always kept his insurance up-to-date, he was never arrested for indecent conduct, he kept his music at reasonable volume levels, he routinely paid his taxes one full week before the deadline, and he always went for jury duty when summoned to do so. He had never seen the inside of a jail cell, and until tonight, he always thought that he'd never have to.

However, standing in front of Alexis Davis and his father as they told him that there was no way in _Hell_ that he was going to do this surgery and that they had already taken out a pre-emptive injunction should he decide to be a renegade, he had a feeling his straight-arrow days were over. After all, it was difficult to be a straight arrow if one's butt was hauled off to prison for wringing the DA's pretty yet distinguished little neck.

"My father is just trying to scare you," he tried to reason with Alexis, not giving in to the urge to glare at the older man. "The chances of the drugs working are not good, and her best chance is to undergo surgery."

"But she could die on the table, right?"

Patrick closed his eyes, feeling the anger radiate off of the enforcer standing next to him. "Yes. But," he added quickly to lessen the impact of the concession, "she could die if the meds fail, too, as they do more often than not. She's in a dangerous place either way and as the top neurosurgeon in this hospital-" This time, he glared in his father's direction. "-I would advise you to consider the surgery that just may save your daughter's life."

Alexis glanced at Jason and rubbed her temples. A mask of granite had long since descended over the enforcer's features, but he didn't intimidate her anymore. Her first priority was her daughter, and she would do what she thought was in Sam's best interest. She knew Jason wanted the surgery, but all things considered, it was too risky. She was aware that Patrick had lost a patient last week and according to Noah, that made him dangerous because he now had something to prove. But she wasn't about to let her daughter be his guinea pig.

"I'm sorry, but I can't allow you to do it."

Pursing his lips, Patrick glared daggers at his father who had the good sense not to appear too smug, and stormed out of the room. Elizabeth and Kelly exchanged weary glances before the brunette turned and followed her friend out. Jason, too, sent Alexis a chilling look that let her know _exactly_ what he thought of her, and then retreated from the small hospital room in pursuit of the one man that could save his fiancé's life.

* * *

"I will pay you _whatever_ you want to make this happen," Jason informed the tall dark-haired man in scrubs, keeping his tone low in the bustling corridor of the hospital. "Name your price."

Patrick Drake studied the enforcer, tilting his head to the side. "You mean that?" Jason blinked, turning his palms to face upward to convey his sincerity. "I don't want your money, Morgan. I want to do this as much as you want it done. I just want you to know that you _will_ be paying a price. We all will." Movement in his peripheral vision caught his attention, and the young doctor turned to see Elizabeth Webber flipping quickly through a medical binder before setting it on the countertop for Epiphany.

"Elizabeth."

She looked up, her eyes guarded and serious when she saw the two men. Folding her arms across her chest in a defensive gesture, Elizabeth quickly approached the doctor.

"Do you think this surgery should be done?"

His question surprised her, and Jason watched as the brunette quirked a brow at Patrick. "Of course – I'm the one that called you."

Patrick glanced at Jason briefly before turning back to her. "How would you feel about doing it _with_ the injunction?"

Elizabeth's gaze instinctively swung to meet Jason's, and the desperation and cautious hope in his eyes only solidified her initial resolve. "I took an oath to save lives," she informed her friend quietly. "If this can save Sam's life, then I'm ready to do it."

Relief flooded through him, and Jason's soft eyes met Elizabeth's when she looked back at him. He ducked his head once, his hands clasped in front of him. "Thank you."

She understood the depth of his gratitude and offered a half-smile in return. Jason would be destroyed if anything else happened to Sam, and she would do everything in her power to help Patrick make sure that the other woman would pull through.

Patrick nodded to himself, not noticing the heavy looks exchanged between the young nurse and the mobster. "Good. Scrub in – I'm going to need you."

He turned on his heel and left to find Epiphany to see if she'd be willing to create the necessary distraction, and Elizabeth reached out and squeezed Jason's arm in a gesture of support. She was about to pull away when his rough hand closed over hers, squeezing it back.

"Thank you, Elizabeth."

* * *

Dressed in the pale blue janitor's jumpsuit that he had peeled off the old man currently locked in a storage closet, Manny Ruiz watched as Jason Morgan reluctantly let go of Elizabeth's hand and let the young nurse head to the locker room to change from her scrub bottoms and sweater into her surgical scrubs.

His obsidian eyes remained trained on Jason as the enforcer watched until the brunette disappeared from sight, then reluctantly headed toward the surgical wing to await Dr. Drake. He knew it was risky, but he just couldn't help himself – he wanted to come to the hospital to hear first-hand how much damage he had done.

So far, the reports were far from discouraging. The lovely Miss McCall was barren and barely clinging to life. If she died on her own, he wouldn't have to finish her off and could focus on his other targets, instead. But if sweet Elizabeth and that shifty Dr. Drake succeeded in saving her life…well, he'd have his fun with Ms. McCall again. And this time, he'd do it right.

Whistling as he sloshed the dirty mop back into the rolling cart, Manny abandoned his post near the nurses' station and adjusted his lowered cap, making sure the bill still concealed his features. Leaving the cart in the corner by the storage closet where an old man's weak, muffled yells couldn't be heard over the hum of the cooling system, he followed his favorite nurse down the hallway to the private locker room.


	3. 03

**Note: **Whee! Three chapters in three days. Let's see if I can keep it up, especially with intermittent updates of The Battle.

For some reason, all of my updates have been getting a bit shorter in length. I don't quite know what to make of that.

This story WILL pick up soon, I promise. I just need to lay down some groundwork for upcoming stuff.

* * *

**Heat 03**

Nine hours after the botched hit on Lucky Spencer's wife, the Escobar family was at it again.

Manny lurked by the large wastebasket, adjusting the plastic garbage bag over the top of the container, but his attention was focused elsewhere. Elizabeth had disappeared inside the locker room to change for the impending surgery, and when he followed her down the hallway with his broom, he noticed another man lurking in the shadows behind her. He was dressed in orderly scrubs over a white turtleneck, and the sleeves came up just short of his wrist. Another black snake tattoo – another attempt on sweet Elizabeth.

She had been in the lines of the Escobar family's crosshairs before this night. Manny himself had been able to save her on at least three occasions when a gunman waited for her on her walk home. An Escobar agent had kidnapped Elizabeth about a month ago, and her husband had been injured in an attempt to rescue her. Naturally, her dear friend Jason Morgan had swooped in and chased the assassin off. But Mister Morgan's track record was nowhere near as impressive as his own when it came to watching over sweet Elizabeth.

Manny set the garbage container down and ducked out of sight as the bickering Drs. Quartermaine approached. But they continued on their way without even noticing him, and the hallway was clear as Manny quickly trotted toward the entrance of the locker room. The orderly in scrubs, who was already several paces away, produced a knife from his pocket and clicked it open just as he disappeared behind the swinging door.

He waited a brief moment, counting down the seconds in his head before he dared to slip in after the other man. Sweet Elizabeth wouldn't want to ruin her favorite pink scrubs with a little blood, after all. A shower was running somewhere toward the back as Manny slipped down the corridor to the main room, immediately confronted with rows of lockers and benches. His favorite black boots enabled him to move stealthily, and he soon spotted Elizabeth standing by her locker.

She was wearing a new pair of scrub bottoms and was pulling out the top. The ones she had been wearing for the past nine hours at the hospital were wadded up on the floor, ready for the massive laundry bin that sat in the corner of the room. Ducking quickly out of sight before she turned and spotted him, Manny darted down the next row of lockers and crept to the corner, knowing that the assassin was only a few steps away.

He leapt across the aisle and quickly hid behind the adjacent row of lockers, now having a clear, unobstructed view of both the brunette and the disguised killer. Elizabeth fingered her clean scrub top, clucking her tongue when she noticed a rip in the synthetic fabric, and walked away in her scrub bottoms and white bra to get another top.

That was the window Manny needed. In a flash, he was on the oblivious assassin and had clenched his arm tightly around the other man's neck. A brief struggle ensued as he managed to drag Escobar's man behind the next row of lockers and wrestled the knife from his hand.

And just like that, it was over – a quick swipe of the knife at the jugular and the man went down. Prying open a locker, Manny shoved the corpse inside and would have kicked it shut, but realized a bit too late that he had been heard.

"Hello?" Elizabeth had returned to her locker and quickly pulled on her scrub top. "Is anyone there?"

Quietly catching the door on the latch so it remained shut, Manny ducked behind the row of lockers and darted toward the back of the room. He heard Elizabeth's sharp cry when she saw the blood on the floor, and grabbed a pair of clean scrubs before he ducked into the shower area.

Manny waited until he heard the door being kicked open and the thundering footfalls of Elizabeth's sneakers in the hallway before he dared to come out. Dressed in scrubs and a surgical cap, he slipped out of the same door and vanished down the hallway.

* * *

"Elizabeth." A young blonde intern waved the still stricken brunette over as she helped Dr. Lee roll Sam's bed down to the operating room. "It's time to scrub in – Dr. Drake wants you to begin prepping Miss McCall."

"I…okay," she replied, sweeping her hair out of her face with trembling hands. "Do – do you know where Patrick is?"

The intern looked at her strangely, surprised that a lowly OR nurse would be calling the esteemed Doctor Drake by his first name. "Um, no, not right now. But he said he'd be scrubbing in while you were prepping. I remember Dr. Drake – the older one – lurking behind him, so maybe they're…consulting."

"You mean, bickering," the brunette replied, waving the interns on. "Okay, go ahead, take her in. I'll be in to scrub up in a minute."

The interns exchanged quizzical glances but did as they were told. The wheels creaked as the bed was rolled into the surgical room, and Elizabeth did her best to compose herself. She needed to calm down – going into the OR a trembling, shaken mess was not acceptable.

She took a deep, cleansing breath outside the operating room, and nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Whirling around, Elizabeth found a confused Patrick Drake studying her carefully.

"Hey," he soothed, giving her shoulder a comforting squeeze. "You okay? You look kind of pale."

"Fine," she smiled, hoping that she had become a better liar over time.

But her friend didn't buy it. "You haven't scrubbed in yet? You sure you're okay?"

"Patrick, really, I'm fine-"

"C'mere," he muttered, grabbing her elbow and pulling her away from the questioning gazes of the interns inside the operating room. "Look, we need to talk. I'm sorry about how I asked you – if I put you on the spot in front of Jason or otherwise intimidated you into saying yes, I didn't mean to. You can still back out, Elizabeth, and I won't think any less of you."

"I meant what I said, Patrick," she replied firmly, giving his large hand a squeeze before crossing her arms over her chest defensively. "I want to do this surgery with you – injunction or no injunction."

"Are you sure you realize what you're risking?" the tall doctor inquired, his warm brown eyes boring into hers. "Elizabeth, this isn't a joke. This is very, very serious. What we're doing is, by all counts, illegal. We're both risking our jobs at General Hospital, not to mention our careers. And we could very likely get our asses tossed into jail for this. There's no telling if Sam McCall will live or not – she could die on the operating table and then we'd be labeled murderers. Are you _sure_ you want to do this?"

"Yes," she replied softly, her sapphire orbs conveying the depth of her conviction. "You can do this, Patrick – you can save her. You always told me about those defining moments in a doctor's career while we were studying, right? Well, this sure looks like one."

"Okay," Patrick replied, nodding once. "Okay. I'm going to scrub up – we'll prep her together."

Elizabeth nodded, forcing a tight smile as he moved toward the operating room. "All right – I'll be right there." His dark eyes swung back to meet hers, and she shifted under the silent question lurking there. "I-I have to talk to Jason. I promise it'll only take a minute – probably less."

He quirked a brow, but restrained himself from commenting on that when he saw the look in her eyes. He wasn't quite sure what the deal was between Jason and Elizabeth, but he sure had been seeing a lot of them together over the past few weeks. Clearly, something was bothering Elizabeth and if it would calm her nerves to talk to the mobster, he could spare her for that long. He didn't need a fidgety, distracted OR nurse next to him during this crucial surgery. "Hurry it up."

She nodded and took off down the hallway, knowing that Jason was most likely waiting in the lounge. Turning the corner, she found him lingering near the elevators, talking with Sonny. Her eyes met the older man's obsidian orbs, and Sonny frowned when he saw the serious expression on her face. With a shrug, he excused himself and pushed the button for the elevator down.

Jason, sensing her presence, turned and looked at her questioningly. "Elizabeth, what's wrong? Is it Sam?"

She shook her head mutely, suddenly feeling awkward for coming to him with business at a time of personal turmoil. "No, no – Patrick's just scrubbing in, and I'm supposed to go, too. I just – can I talk to you for a minute?"

He looked around, his brows furrowed. "Sure. Go ahead."

"Not here." Grabbing his arm, Elizabeth tugged the enforcer toward the waiting room, kicking the door shut with her heel. Perplexed by her behavior, Jason simply waited for her to speak.

"I…I'm sorry to come to you with this right now," she started softly. "I know you're going out of your mind worrying about Sam, and this is the last thing you need, but…"

"Elizabeth." His deceptively calm eyes pierced into hers as he cut off her rambling in that soft, concerned voice he reserved just for her. "Whatever it is, you can tell me. Just say it."

"I…I think I'm still a target of the Escobar family," she blurted out, wringing her hands nervously. "And this time, it's putting the whole hospital at risk."

He was looking at her as if she had sprouted a second hand, but in a flash, the enforcer mask had descended and he was pumping her for information. "What happened? What did you see?"

"Someone came after me in the locker room," she informed him quietly. "I was changing and I went to get a clean scrub top, and when I got back I heard a scuffle. I looked around and didn't see much, but in the aisle one row behind my locker, there was a puddle of blood on the floor."

His eyes widened, but Jason remained silent, waiting for her to continue. "I opened the nearby lockers and…there was a man dressed in orderly scrubs shoved into one of them. His throat had been slit. There wasn't anything I could do for him – he was already dead. I checked him for identification, but he didn't have his label pinned on, and I didn't recognize him, so I don't think he's an orderly here. I think he's someone planted by the Escobar family to get inside the hospital."

Jason crossed his arms over his chest, his features hardening into stone. "And you think-"

"-I think that the timing is too close," she finished with a slice of her hand. "Sam was just shot ten hours ago, and now someone's tailing me at the hospital. I know the Escobar's have been after me for a while, but I thought they had backed off. What if the guy that tried to get _me_ was working for the same people that ordered the hit on Sam? Or you, if you think that it was meant to be you instead of her. Now those same people are prowling around the hospital. What I don't get is how someone already managed to stop him...and why."

"I'll take care of it."

She met his eyes directly, blue on blue. The resolve and conviction she found therein wasn't the least bit unfamiliar, and Elizabeth knew that Jason would fix this. "Thank you."

Having nothing else left to say, she quietly excused herself and trotted back to the OR where Patrick had just finished scrubbing in and was beginning to prep the patient without her.

Jason, on the other hand, waited until he knew it was clear and then headed out into the hallway, his hand straying close to the gun he always kept tucked into his jeans. Noah Drake passed him by, shooting him a curious look and no doubt wondering why the enforcer was patrolling the hallways instead of sitting with his dying fiancé. Jason waited until the older man was out of site before heading straight to the wing of the hospital where the locker room was located. Everything was clear, and he withdrew his gun and slipped quietly into the room.

There was a rolling cart with a mop parked near the door, and Jason almost walked into it as he stepped inside. Carefully, he crept down the aisles keeping his eyes open for anything out of the ordinary. It would have helped if he knew which locker was Elizabeth's but since he didn't, he just had to take it from there. Soon enough, he saw what she had described – a pool of blood on the tiles, and a thin trail of the dark red liquid leading to the lockers nearby.

It only took him a minute to find the corpse, and Jason jumped back before the blood trickling from the floor of the locker could splatter onto his shoes or jeans. He shut the locker before the body could fall out, and turned on his heel, already pulling his cell phone out of his pocket.

Securing the door that led into the locker room so that no one would be able to enter for the next ten minutes, Jason grabbed the mop and cart as he waited for Stan to pick up. "Morgan. I need you to take care of something for me. Meet me in the locker room on the fourth floor of General Hospital right now."


	4. 04

**Note: **I should have said this sooner, but I thought it didn't matter. Now, it looks like it might. I have had this story outlined from beginning to end before I even started the first chapter. That means that if anything comes too close to being spoiler-ish, it was not an intentional attempt on my part to spoil any Spoiler Frees that read my stories. This story was written without consideration to upcoming spoilers or speculation, and any spoilers in this tale are purely coincidental. Thank you.

Also, all Lucky v.GV lovers probably won't be interested in this story anymore. Just thought I'd put up a warning. (pets lukesgrrrl Sorry, Ambereen! I love you!)

It never fails – every time I'm under serious pressure and have research papers out the wazoo (Wazoo: _n, an extremely uncomfortable orifice located on the human body from which to expel research papers_) I write TONS of fanfiction. WTF is wrong with me!

* * *

**Heat 04**

"Okay, are we far enough from the interns to be unprofessional and undignified?"

Elizabeth bit her cheek to conceal her grin and just grabbed Patrick's elbow. "Keep walking," she instructed her friend, their measured steps turning into a trot as they rounded the corner.

The operation had been a success. Patrick had alleviated the compression while Elizabeth helped keep the patient from bleeding out, and Sam's life had been saved. They had done the sutures together and the interns had just moved her to the Intensive Care Unit and were informing Alexis and Jason of the results.

Patrick was grinning broadly, his dimples out in full force, as he and Elizabeth quickly ducked out of sight from the Doctors Quartermaine and continued trotting down the hall in their scrubs. "Hey, can you cook, Elizabeth?"

She quirked a brow at him. "Why?"

"I just thought you might have a recipe," he explained, winking down at her. "My dad's going to be eating crow tonight."

The brunette let out a laugh, light and bubbly, and shoved him lightly. She was absolutely exhausted, but the adrenaline had kicked in long ago and now she was floating on cloud nine. They had worked together and saved Sam's life, and Jason was going to be okay. He had been through so much in the past two years, and it was about time someone took care of _him_ and told _him_ that everything was going to be okay.

"And…we're safe," Patrick grinned as they rounded the corner and stepped into the hallway leading down to the nurses' station. Elizabeth let out a squeal as he grabbed her and swung her around, elated at his most recent triumph.

Her friend was laughing as well as they stumbled into the main lobby, boisterous and flushed with excitement. The surgery had been the first of its kind for the young Doctor Drake, and it was every bit as much a monumental triumph for him as it was for the OR nurse who had just completed her first trauma case successfully.

"You can scrub in with me anytime, Webber," he grinned, jostling her with his hip and draping his arm across her narrow shoulders. "You've earned it."

"Flattered," she smiled, resting her head on his shoulder as they made their way to the station, still grinning. Epiphany was waiting for them there with Jason, who had seen them walking down the hall together. Elizabeth knew he'd already gotten the news from the other nurses and smiled at him and Epiphany. "We did it!"

"I heard," the matronly nurse replied, her eyes twinkling as she straightening the charts on the counter. "Enjoy it while it lasts."

"We will," Patrick assured her, still resting his arm on Elizabeth's shoulder as he tipped his head at Jason. "We'll enjoy it until we have to face the fallout."

Jason was about to thank Elizabeth personally for saving his fiancé's life, but another voice stopped him.

"Excuse me." Officer Garcia was standing two feet away from the station, flanked by two other officers in uniform. "Elizabeth, did you assist in the OR with Sam McCall's surgery?"

The brunette glanced at Epiphany and Jason, then at her husband's colleague. "I did."

"And who was the presiding surgeon?"

"I was," Patrick answered defiantly, his dark eyes narrowed at the officers of the law. "Who wants to know?"

"I do," came a voice from down the hall, and the foursome turned to see an apologetic but firm Mac Scorpio walk toward the nurses' station. "As of this moment, Elizabeth Webber and Patrick Drake, you are both under arrest for performing the surgery in direct violation of the court-ordered injunction. Jason Morgan and Epiphany Johnson, you are also under arrest for aiding the surgeons. You have the right to remain silent; anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."

* * *

"Boss."

Salvatore Escobar turned in his desk chair, facing his bodyguard with a look of considerable annoyance. "What is it?"

"This was delivered ten minutes ago," the guard replied quietly, extending a manila envelope and a letter toward his boss.

"Did the hit go down as planned?" the Spaniard asked, grasping the envelope but leaving it closed.

The guard shifted uncomfortably. "Ramirez never returned from General Hospital, sir. We've been attempting to contact him, but have yet to receive word."

Escobar scowled at his men's incompetence and tore open the flap of the envelope. It was bad enough that the incapable minion he'd sent to take care of Lucky Spencer's wife at the Metrocourt had shot Morgan's girlfriend by mistake and then disappeared. The nurse was defenseless at the hospital – especially in the locker room. It should have been an easy hit, and his men still couldn't pull it off.

He shook the envelope, jumping back when a switchblade fell out onto his desk and spattered a few drops of blood onto the polished wood. "What the hell-"

It was the weapon that Ramirez would have used to slit Nurse Spencer's throat. Staring at it, Escobar swallowed roughly and drew his hand away, letting the knife lay flat against his desk. With a sigh, he picked up the note and carefully cut it open to read the message.

Escobar – 

_Going after defenseless women in place of their husbands is not a good way to make a favorable first impression in this town. The nurse is under my protection and will not be harmed. Do what you want with her husband – I never liked no cops anyway._

_Manny Ruiz

* * *

_

"You can't do this." Elizabeth's dark blue eyes glittered furiously as Garcia slapped a pair of handcuffs on Jason. "Hey – hey! How come he's the only one in handcuffs? Jason didn't do anything – he was just a bystander! You have no reason to put him under arrest."

"Elizabeth, please," Mac replied softly, waving the officers toward Patrick. The young man glared heatedly at Robin's uncle and the other officers. "You and Patrick knew going in that this operation was illegal." He glanced at Alexis and Ric, both of whom had emerged from Sam's room and were standing silently by, watching as justice was served. "Epiphany and Jason helped make it possible by distracting Alexis."

Patrick was fuming when one of the officers grabbed him roughly and pulled him out of the station. "Hey, watch the hand, pal! I'm a surgeon – my hands are my craft and if you-"

"Cuff him," Garcia growled, glaring at the young man that had seduced his best friend's wife. "And get him over there."

"This wasn't their fault," Jason tried to explain to Mac. "Patrick didn't want to operate – I forced him to. I told him I'd shoot him if he didn't do it."

Elizabeth gaped at the enforcer, furious that he would think to be the noble one and risk his own freedom to save them. What did it matter if Sam recovered or not if Jason was sent to prison? "That's a lie and you know it."

All eyes turned toward the petite brunette but she remained firm, staring down the mobster in a battle of wills.

The older man glared at her, slicing a hand through the air and tried again. "Patrick wouldn't have considered breaking the injunction if I hadn't forced him to-"

"Give it up," Elizabeth snarled, her eyes narrowing when Jason mouthed_, stop it_. "We did this because we wanted to save her life. No one forced us into the operating room; no one forced Patrick to pick up the scalpel. We did it because we believed we could save Sam's life. Jason's not to blame here."

"That's right," Epiphany nodded, supporting the younger nurse firmly. "I was in no way threatened by Mr. Morgan to distract the DA."

Patrick's eyes darted from Elizabeth to Epiphany to Jason, and he quirked a brow as he finally turned back to Mac. "Yeah, I'm not good with the whole noble act. I'm calling my lawyer as soon as we get down to the station. Ow!" He yelped when Elizabeth kicked his shin, and the young man quickly distanced himself from the irate brunette. "Remind me never to let you pick up a scalpel near me again."

Mac sighed, rubbing his temples. As much as he hated to drag in his niece's boyfriend and close friends, he had no choice. With any luck, they'd spend only a few hours in the holding cell before Alexis dropped the charges and let them go home. If it were up to him, he'd throw this whole thing out. There was no reason for a brilliant doctor and two dedicated nurses to be apprehended for saving a life and upholding the basic tenets of the medical community. Morgan, on the other hand…he was the one that made this whole debacle worth it.

Noah Drake emerged from the corridor, his wide eyes taking in the scene before him. Alexis and Ric stood firm, and Patrick remained quiet as he glared at his father whose dark eyes seemed glued to the handcuffs that currently restrained him. "What in the world is going on here?"

Officer Garcia turned toward the doctor, tipping his head at the foursome. "Patrick, Elizabeth, Jason, and Epiphany are under arrest for performing surgery on Miss McCall in direct violation of an injunction."

The older Drake's gaze landed squarely on his son, his disapproval evident. "Congratulations, son."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and squirmed away from Officer Garcia when he put his hand on her shoulder. Instead, she followed Epiphany onto the elevator and didn't even dignify a fuming Jason with a second glance. Patrick, the last to be led away, scowled at his father as he stepped onto the elevator.

"Thanks, _Dad_," he sneered, his lip curling in disgust. "And hey, guess what? I got to be a god _and_ a martyr all in one day. Aren't you proud?"

Noah dropped his head and looked away as the elevator closed on his son's stoic countenance.

* * *

Officer Garcia watched Elizabeth as the young woman was led through the Port Charles Police Department and down the hall to the small jailing facility in the building, but she refused to meet his gaze. Instead, she stuck close to Patrick Drake who was still nursing his abused wrist and, no doubt, his bruised ego.

Garcia shook his head, knowing what he had to do. It was a shame that a woman like Elizabeth who had a loving husband, a baby that needed her, and a happy home would go and throw it all away for a debonair playboy doctor whose little black book was no doubt longer than most New York City telephone directories.

Mac was making sure the four of them were being booked properly as Garcia took his cell phone out of his pocket and excused himself, slipping into one of the interrogation rooms. He hit the third number on his speed dial and waited for his friend to pick up.

On the third ring, Lucky Spencer's voice met his ear. _"Hello?"_

"Lucky," Garcia sighed, running a hand through his hair. "It's me."

"What's going on? Did you see her leaving with Patrick again?" 

"Yes, technically…but not of her own choice."

A pause. _"What do you mean?"_

"Lucky, your wife has been arrested along with Jason Morgan, Epiphany Johnson, and Patrick Drake and is now being booked into a holding cell at the PCPD."

"What? For what?" 

"Patrick and Elizabeth disobeyed a court order and performed surgery on Samantha McCall a few hours ago. The DA wasn't too thrilled and had them thrown into lock-down."

He could hear his friend growl into the receiver. _"Why the hell would she do something like that? She knows Alexis is one of the most powerful people in this city and-"_

"My guess?" Garcia sat down on the edge of the table, switching his phone to the other ear. "I think she did it for Patrick. He couldn't perform the surgery on his own and…I'm sure he convinced her to help."

"_She's willing to risk her career and her job for that asshole Patrick Drake,"_ Lucky snarled. _"With our debt and the insurance and…she's doing it for him!"_

"Look, man, calm down," the officer replied, knowing the words were hollow and useless. "I just wanted to let you know what went down. Elizabeth is going to be calling you soon to come down, I bet, and I wanted you to have the details."

"_Yeah. Yeah. Thanks, Garcia. I'll talk to you later."_

Lucky clicked off his cell phone and resisted the urge to hurl it against the wall. He didn't know what kind of hold Patrick Drake had on his wife, but it was clear she'd go to great lengths to prove her loyalty to him. The mere thought made him sick. She was risking her career and was sure to add even more debt to their growing pile thanks to court fees for a lawyer…all for that Doctor Drake.

He flung his phone onto the couch and left the room, heading straight for Cameron's empty nursery. Elizabeth had everything she wanted right here. She had a husband that would do anything for her, that would give her anything she wanted, and a baby that depended on her. And where was she? She was sitting in a jail cell with her beloved Patrick Drake instead of coming home to them. She didn't deserve him or anything that he had given her. She didn't deserve the happy home for her and her baby – whom he had fully accepted out of the goodness of his own heart. She didn't deserve any of this. She didn't deserve the love he had felt for her.

Lucky snorted, feeling that familiar, burning rage bubble up within him again. He wouldn't even be surprised if she was fucking Patrick Drake on the table in the interrogation room right now. Flinging open the closet door next to the crib, he knelt on the floor and pulled out Cameron's toy chest.

Flipping it open, he took out the stuffed animals and pitched them over his shoulder, his fingers frantically digging for the latch he had installed to pull up the fake bottom. Finally grasping it, he pulled the thin wooden piece out and reached inside for his secret stash.

Lucky didn't even bother to replace the stuffed animals and the phony bottom to the toy chest. After all, it wasn't like Elizabeth would be coming home to catch him in the act. Stumbling toward the bedroom, he flopped down on the bed – the bed where he made love to _his_ wife, who in turn made love to that Patrick Drake – and opened the box.

With a small smile, he reached over to their only telephone that sat near the bed and pulled the line. Let her try to get through to him now. Ready now, he reached inside the slim box and pulled out a long needle. Elizabeth had been so thrilled when he had kicked his morphine addiction, and he had to admit, he was, too.

Especially since heroin produced a _much_ better high.


	5. 05

**Note: **Officer "Garcia" has now been corrected to read Officer "Rodriguez".

And now, finally, the story begins. When I got this title, I thought of people in close quarters with emotions running high, rendered powerless by the long arm of the law. The next few chapters all center around a jail cell and though this is kind of fluffy, it's part of a bigger picture that I can only construct over the course of a few chapters. Just bear with me and revel in the sex-ay-ness of Patrick Drake. _Ooh, doctor!

* * *

_

**Heat 05**

"The only thing to be thankful for…" Patrick Drake drawled, picking at a small hole in his surgical scrubs as he cast a lingering look at Epiphany who sat next to him on the bench. "…Is that you're not a rough trick named Bubba who wants me to dance."

Elizabeth snickered next to him in the cell that she currently shared with Jason, as Epiphany frowned at the young doctor. "Drake, if you don't shut your face, I'm going to _make _you dance."

"Aren't you the dominant one?" Patrick teased, quickly darting away when Epiphany made to stand up. Elizabeth rolled her dark eyes as he sidled up next to her against the metal bars separating them. "Looks like someone had to empty out bedpans all morning."

"Knock it off, Patrick," the brunette snapped, trying to conceal her smirk. Leave it to Patrick Drake to make her giggle like a child when there was nothing funny about their current situation. "We're not in the break room, you know. In case you missed it, we're in a jail cell."

"Justus is on it," Jason assured them quietly, folding his hands in his lap. They had all gotten a chance to make their phone calls; Epiphany and Patrick had immediately called their lawyers, he had gotten in touch with Justus who promised to be down as soon as possible, and Elizabeth had called Lucky – albeit unsuccessfully. No one had picked up at her home and she figured it was because her husband wasn't feeling well and needed some rest. "He'll try to get us out as soon as possible."

"Lucky will, too," Elizabeth agreed, trying to ease the tense look on Epiphany's face. Her husband had connections within the Police department and was well liked among his colleagues. When he woke up and felt a bit better, he'd hear about what was going on and be down immediately to get her out. "We just have to wait it out a little."

"You know, that was the first thing Robin told me when I came to General Hospital," Patrick smirked, leaning his hip against the bars and crossing his arms over his chest. "She said, get a lawyer – a good one. I thought she was kidding, but I'm glad I listened."

"Hm," Elizabeth smirked, "did she tell you that _before_ you finished nailing the nurse on the gurney, or afterwards?"

"Doctor Scorpio a smart girl," Epiphany nodded, glaring at the debonair young doctor as he tried to grab at his friend through the bars. "Now, if you'd quit needling her every chance you got-"

"Where's the fun in that?" Patrick replied, revealing his dimples as Elizabeth chuckled. "Someone's gotta pull Doctor Sourpuss out of her shell and show her that there's more to life than work and argyle sweaters. And I'm just the man to make it work."

"Oh, you're a piece of work, all right," the nurse groused, turning away from her cellmate and moving toward the bed to sit.

"Epiphany."

Patrick, Elizabeth, and the nurse in question all turned to look at Jason who had hardly spoken during the whole ordeal. The mobster looked directly at the matronly nurse, his cerulean eyes deeply apologetic.

"I'm sorry about dragging you into this. All of you." He glanced at Elizabeth, his intense eyes narrowing slightly when she made as if to protest on her and a silent Patrick's behalf. She had done enough of that in the past two hours. "Justus is working on getting _all_ of us out, and he's the best in the business. I won't forget what any of you did today, and I _will_ make sure that this is fixed as soon as possible."

The nurse seemed to appreciate his sentiments but as usual, didn't waste precious time and emotion expressing it. "The way I see it," she started, pursing her lips into a thin line as she looked at Patrick and Elizabeth who stood close together in the adjoining corner of the two cells. "All we can do right now is hope that the DA has a change of heart."

Patrick snorted, dipping his head toward Elizabeth. "Huh – I wasn't aware Alexis _had_ a heart."

Jason watched as the brunette rolled her eyes and smacked the doctor on the arm. "Hey, _you_ apparently do," she countered, jabbing her index finger at him. "And I've gotta figure that after that, anything's possible."

Epiphany appeared to be waiting for the two to stop bickering, and Jason judged by the bored, somewhat impatient look on her face that this was not an uncommon occurrence. "The post-op showed that Miss McCall's blood pressure was beginning to stabilize," she continued, talking more to her two colleagues than him. "Her heartbeat was normal, and she was recovering. It won't be long at all before that girl wakes up – and once she does, we're in the clear. We're not murderers, we're not renegade doctors. Once the DA's daughter wakes up, we have a reason to hope that she'll have a change of heart and drop the charges."

"Yeah, we can hope," Elizabeth sighed, sweeping her bangs out of her face. "All signs looked promising."

"Barring some unforeseen and unpredictable complication, she should be well on her way to a full recovery," Patrick agreed, scuffing the toe of one white sneaker against the other. "Who knows how long that will take, though?"

"We'll just cool our heels in here until it happens," Epiphany informed him. "And now, if you two will keep it down, I'm going to get some rest. Lord knows I haven't slept in two day and if you so much as make a peep, you will _not _like what's going to happen."

Patrick and Elizabeth snickered to themselves as the older nurse lay back against the thin cot. "If I had a tin cup, I'd rake it against the bars right now."

Jason smirked, watching as the petite brunette attempted to kick the doctor through the bars. "Knock it off," she hissed, trying to suppress a chuckle. "Or she's going to throw her shoe at us again."

Epiphany covered her eyes with her arm and let out a weary sigh as Patrick and Elizabeth quieted down. Hands on her hips, the brunette paced around in a small circle in the cell she currently shared with Jason before reluctantly making her way over to him and sitting down on the bench. Patrick, taking her cue, sat down on the end of the bench in his cell so that the two of them were only inches apart.

Jason slid a bland sidelong glance at the fidgeting brunette who was currently focusing on her shoelaces. He didn't exactly want to have this conversation with her in front of everyone, but their current set-up didn't allow him much privacy. "You shouldn't have done that."

She blinked at him, the very picture of innocence, and he wanted to shake her. "What did I do?"

"You went all Three Musketeers on us when Jason was ready to take the blame," Patrick muttered, making a point to look away and count the dots on the ceiling when Elizabeth turned to glare at him.

"And you compensated by thinking only of yourself, so consider it even," the brunette snipped at her discourteous and unapologetic friend. "Honestly, Patrick, I don't know what I see in you."

Her eyes narrowed when he turned on her instantly, his dark orbs glittering and his dimples out in full force, and Jason watched as the irritated brunette simply held up her hand. "I swear to God, Drake, if you hit on me now – _here_ – I'll add assault to my already trumped up charges."

The doctor rolled his eyes and slumped against the wall, sulking. "Well, sue me for wanting to get out of here. I have patients, you know. Plus, I need another wrap for my wrist and I don't have my lotion with me-"

"Stop thinking about your hands!" she snapped, giving in to her more base instincts and kicking him through the bars. "And try to remember that this is _not_ about you. Just sit there and look pretty – that's all you need to do."

"Aw, Webber, you think I'm prett-"

"What did I just say?" Recognizing the lethal glint in her sapphire eyes, Patrick retreated and continued sulking on the bench as Elizabeth turned to Jason. "Look, I know you don't like that I blew your whole surgery-by-gunpoint ploy, but I stand by it. I wasn't about to let you take the blame."

"You wouldn't have even been brought in," Jason hissed back, curling his hands into fists to avoid touching her. If he did that, he'd definitely end up throttling the obstinate little woman. "You and Patrick did nothing wrong and-"

"Neither did you," she whispered harshly, turning on the bench to face him. "Alexis is _completely _out of line. She has _reason_ to arrest us, Jason – what we did was actually illegal. You didn't do anything wrong. If Patrick and I had said right then that we did it on our own and it was our attempt to prove ourselves, we-"

"-would have dug ourselves in even deeper," Patrick reminded her, snapping her mouth shut when she turned to glare at him.

Elizabeth let out a sigh and pulled her legs up under her, sitting cross-legged on the bench next to Jason. "Look, if we had gone with that story, they would have left you alone. And it's not fair that you're down here, Jason. It's not fair."

"Elizabeth…" He closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the hard wall. He had always somewhat hoped that she'd outgrow her stubbornness, but clearly, that hadn't happened as of yet. "I don't want you here. I don't want you, Patrick or Epiphany in jail because of this. Let them do what they need to do with me-"

"Why?" she demanded, squeezing her left hand with her right like she always did when she was particularly agitated. "So that Sam can wake up and ask us why her boyfriend isn't with her?"

Her eyes softened when Jason looked away, and after a moment's hesitation, she reached out and settled a hand on his knee. "Jason, if we had gone along with what you said and told Mac that we had done this because you threatened us to…well, first, no one would believe it. I mean, you might threaten Patrick because, let's face it, no one likes him anyway-"

"Hey! I happen to be _very_ well liked-"

"Yeah, only by the half of the population with ovaries, and only for _one_ reason," Elizabeth cut him off, effectively silencing her colleague. "But Jason, Mac would see through it because you'd never threaten me or Epiphany. But on the off-chance that he believed it, what would happen? You'd be stuck in a jail cell with Justus combing for any possible loophole while Alexis did her best to get Sam away from you."

She removed her hand from his knee after giving him a little shake. "With all four of us in here, though, we stand a better chance. No one seriously believes that this allegation holds any water. And just wait – any one of our connections will be here to help. If Alexis keeps us here for much longer, it's only going to be a PR nightmare for her, especially if Sam pulls through, which she will. Justus is already working on the case, like you said, and someone will be here to get us out – Alan, or maybe even Ric, or the Spencers-"

"Or the Scorpios," came a voice from down the hall, and the foursome all looked up to see an officer in uniform leading a worried Robin Scorpio into the holding facility.

Patrick stood up immediately as the petite brunette walked up to the bars, signaling to the officer that she was fine. He retreated outside the facility and waited in the hallway, watching them from a distance. "Hey, you're back. Is everything okay? Luke, your dad, the kids-"

"Everything's fine," she interjected, reaching up to grab the collar of his scrubs. "First things first."

Elizabeth's jaw dropped when Robin pulled Patrick down to her and kissed him through the bars. She and Epiphany exchanged impressed looks as the brunette stood on her toes and framed his face, kissing him deeply. Patrick, though surprised at first, quickly threaded the fingers of his good hand through her rich dark locks and held her close, refusing to let go until they were both out of breath.

"For the love of God, Drake," came a deep voice from down the hall as Robert Scorpio walked in with disdain written clearly on his face. "Can't you go five minutes without fusing your lips to hers? It's unseemly – not to mention what my nightmares are made of."

Elizabeth couldn't help but smirk when she saw the bored look on Jason's face, and she grinned cheekily at her friend when Patrick finally stepped back an inch after glancing uncomfortably at his girlfriend's father. "Hi, _Robin_."

"Hi, _Elizabeth_," the doctor grinned cattily back. "Okay, now that we've got that taken care of…what the hell happened?"

Patrick scratched the back of his head, shifting his weight from one foot to the other as Robert drew closer and sized up all the prisoners. "Well, it's a long story, actually…"

"Hey," the former commissioner interrupted, wagging a finger at Elizabeth who slowly made her way over to the small group clustered by the gate. "I know you. Elizabeth, right – we met during the virus?" He extended his hand with a warm smile, remembering the compassionate young nurse that had swooped in to help during the time of crisis. "You're Luke's daughter-in-law – the one he can't shut up about."

Elizabeth grinned, embarrassed, and shook his hand firmly. "It's good to see you again, Robert. I'm just sorry it's under these circumstances."

"Oh, nonsense," the agent replied good-naturedly, slipping his hands into the pockets of his dark blue windbreaker. "A Spencer-Scorpio reunion just doesn't feel right if at least one of the aforementioned parties isn't behind bars."

Patrick frowned as Elizabeth laughed. "See, how come you're so charming around her and not me?"

"Because Elizabeth's not an incorrigible toilet-flush without an ounce of sense in her head," Robert replied easily, backing down only slightly when Robin turned to glare at him.

"Okay, someone better tell me what's going on – Uncle Mac said that you were _arrested_? Seriously? All of you?"

Patrick nodded reluctantly. "Elizabeth was the one that called me on the island to tell me that Sam's condition had worsened and the operation might have been her only chance. When I got here, Alexis was dead-set against it."

"She and Ric had taken out an injunction to keep Patrick from operating," Elizabeth supplied, wrapping one small hand around the cold metal bar as her gaze darted from Robin to Robert. "Jason was in favor of the surgery, and Patrick believed it was the only way to save Sam's life. He asked me if I'd be willing to perform it with him with the injunction and when I agreed, Epiphany distracted Alexis long enough for us to get Sam into the OR."

Robert's eyebrows jumped in surprise and it was clear that the older man was impressed. "Well, it's no wonder Luke can't shut up about you."

His daughter slid him a suspicious sidelong glance. "Wait a minute – I'd think you'd be all about the long arm of the law on this one."

The detective just shrugged. "Yes, I exercise the utmost fidelity to the law and I believe in its sanctity…to a point. But no one ever got anywhere without breaking at least a few, Luv. And if it's the question of saving a human life…well, that gives me cause to reconsider."

"Thank you," Patrick smiled graciously, bowing. "Your support is appreciated."

"I was talking to Elizabeth and Epiphany," Robert snipped, crossing his arms over his chest. "As far as I'm concerned, you and Morgan can rot in here."

"He's kidding," Robin assured the doctor, lightly pushing her father away. "So you performed the surgery and the police barged into the OR? Fill me in here."

"The surgery was a success," Patrick sighed, widening his stance and settling his hands on his hips. "Sam was stabilizing and we have every reason to believe she'll make a full recovery. Elizabeth and I were just celebrating when Officer Rodriguez and your uncle showed up and arrested us at the nurses' station."

"In full view?" Robin gasped. "That's serious. And you were booked and thrown in a holding cell? Unbelievable." She shook her head, exchanging a solemn look with her father. "This isn't right. And I know Uncle Mac doesn't think it is, either. Look, I'm going to talk to him, okay? He and Alexis work fairly closely together, and maybe he can talk her into dropping the charges. I'll be back, okay?"

"Hold on a second," Robert interrupted, his gray brows furrowed. Before he had a chance to talk himself out of it, the detective was motioning Jason forth. "Let's get the basics cleared up – how was the young lady hurt?"

"Sam was shot in the lumbar region of her spine from behind," Elizabeth answered quietly when Jason said nothing. "There were complications and Dr. Lee had to perform an emergency hysterectomy." Robin gasped with surprise and sympathy, and Elizabeth let out a heavy sigh before continuing. "Um…she was stabilizing after that but then took a turn for the worst. She had to undergo another surgery for spinal compression and cranial edema. We were able to alleviate the compression, but the edema wasn't as easy. That was where Patrick came in – he's the only one that could perform the surgery, so I asked him to get back to General Hospital as soon as he could."

Robert pursed his lips, his hard blue eyes darting from Jason to Patrick. His daughter had the most ill-informed taste when it came to men, and he blamed it all on Anna. Her ex-boyfriend was a criminal whose profession had led to the shooting, no doubt, and her current would-be beau was a hotshot renegade doctor. Absently, he found himself wondering if a monastery would still be out of the question.

Robin shook her head, coming her fingers through her limp, tousled locks as she tried to clear her head. It was a lot of information to take in at once, and right now she had to concentrate on using her own expertise to get her friends out of jail.

"Okay, we're going to talk to Uncle Mac," she announced, lightly smacking her father on the arm with the back of her hand. "We'll see what he can do. Also, I'm going to pull up the stats on the surgery and show that in similar cases, simple medication did not result in a favorable outcome. Who knows – maybe that will help convince Alexis that this was the right thing to do."

Her sympathetic brown eyes trailed over her friends, coming to rest on Elizabeth. Robin hated seeing her friend stuck in a holding cell in a pair of flimsy, drafty surgical scrubs, especially when she knew how much Elizabeth was needed elsewhere. A holding cell was nowhere for a young mother or newlywed.

"Just hang tight, okay?" She reached out and squeezed Elizabeth's hand, giving her a tight, resolute smile. "There are a lot of people on this – I just ran into Justus in the lobby and he's hard at work. This is going to be okay. Just hang tight."

"Honestly, this would never have happened back when I was Police Commissioner," Robert snorted, scratching the back of his head. "Hell, even Anna would have been able to- Hey! Hey, you two, stop that!"

He was, of course, referring to Patrick and Robin who were at it once again much to Elizabeth's amusement. Robin ignored her father and pulled the doctor closer, boldly parting his lips with her tongue and rising on her toes when he snaked an arm around her waist from behind the bars.

Pulling back when she absolutely had to suck in a breath, the brunette winked up at Patrick and placed a hand flat on his chest, gently pushing him a step back into the cell. "Watch him, Elizabeth."

The nurse grinned as she watched her friend walk briskly out of the holding facility, followed doggedly by Robert who was still spouting off about gingivitis the sheer inappropriateness of sucking face within a two-mile radius of a parental figure.

As the duo disappeared from sight, Patrick ran a hand through his tousled hair and sauntered over to the bench with an air of triumph. Elizabeth shook her head when he winked at her and stretched out on the metal surface, his ankles crossed and pointing at a dozing Epiphany.

Jason still sat on the bench they shared, and the look in his eyes let her know in no uncertain terms that their conversation from earlier was nowhere _near _finished. Elizabeth frowned at him and wrapped her hand around the cold metal bar.

Maybe she'd just stand around for a while.


	6. 06

**Note: **On with this one…

* * *

**Heat 06**

"Okay." Patrick Drake sat cross-legged on the bench facing Elizabeth, who had finally returned to the bench she shared with Jason and was mimicking her colleague's pose. "How about this – In an otherwise healthy, non-toxic patient with a localized cutaneous abscess, what is the preferred antibiotic after incision and drainage?"

Jason watched curiously as Elizabeth thought, playing with the ends of her hair. After a moment, she perked up and smirked at her co-worker. "That's a trick question, you loser – no antibiotic is necessary."

The doctor grinned triumphantly, pleased that their late-night study sessions were most definitely paying off. "Good – but when _are_ they necessary?"

The brunette ticked the cases off on her fingers as Jason continued to watch quietly with a twinge of pride at her competence. "Antibiotics should _only_ be considered in patients with high fever, toxicity, systemic disease, vascular compromise, immunosuppression, or an abscess in the area of the central face or mastoid."

"Impressive," Epiphany murmured, tipping her chin at the young woman. "Try this one on for size: What is the difference in clinical presentation between labyrinthitis and vestibular neuronitis?"

"I know this!" Patrick yelped, spinning around on the bench to face the matronly nurse stretched out on the thin bunked cots. "The difference is-"

"Hey, it's all about _me_, remember?" Elizabeth groused, poking him hard in the back through the bars of the cell. "Um, both of the disorders cause peripheral vertigo, and are most commonly caused by a viral illness, although bacterial labrynithitis _can_ occur and _can_ be devastating. But vestibular neuronitis is characterized by peripheral vertigo _without_ hearing loss, while labrynthitis is characterized by peripheral vertigo _with_ hearing loss."

"Awesome," Patrick grinned, high-fiving her through the bars. "But try not to be such a show-off, though; that's _my _schtick."

"Oh, I wouldn't dream of taking it away from you, Patrick," the brunette smirked. "Let's do it again." The doctor opened his mouth, but she quickly held up her hand. "And so help me _God_, if you turn that into an innuendo-"

Jason smirked to himself as Patrick scratched the back of his head and launched into another case study for her to pick apart. He tried to stay out of General Hospital on principle, which was why he'd only found out that Elizabeth was a nurse several months after she started. She had been a godsend during the virus scare, working alongside the Drs. Drake, the Scorpios, and the Spencers to find the antidote and administer it to the dying.

He had seen her at work, alert and methodic as she cared for her patients, and it had amazed him then. She made a good nurse – but that wasn't the cause for his surprise. Elizabeth had always been compassionate, and she had a big heart: she was the perfect person to go into the profession. What surprised him most was her confidence and her ability to keep up with the likes of trained professionals like Patrick and Robin, while matching wits with Robert and Luke as they tried to piece through the puzzle. She possessed a number of noteworthy qualities that she brought into the workplace with her, and that was what made her such an exceptional nurse.

And the exchange between her and Patrick now – he felt it should surprise him, too, but it didn't. Elizabeth was intelligent and diligent when she set her mind to something. She was unfazed by Patrick and Epiphany's interrogation and did her best to spit back answers as fast as they volleyed questions. There was a natural bond of support and camaraderie between the three of them, a casual air that made it seem as if they were taking a break and horsing around at the nurses' station instead of stuck in a cramped jail cell.

He watched as Elizabeth laughed and shoved Patrick through the bars when the doctor responded with one of his typical double entendres. Epiphany, too, was smirking and offering the feisty brunette silent encouragement to put the pompous doctor back in his place.

This was what he had always wanted for her.

She was an intelligent, giving, spunky young woman who belonged out in the world sharing her gifts – be they art or the task of nursing – with others. She never belonged behind bulletproof windows, carted from one location to another by a bevy of armed bodyguards. She deserved to have friends and colleagues and a career and a _life_ – and he knew he'd never be able to offer that to any woman that he was with.

When he and Courtney were together, her sphere of friends was pretty much limited to Carly; the only real job she had was running her organization and that was _after_ they had divorced. Sam had a career before him, but she had been able to do nothing but putter around the penthouse and join him in meetings since they had gotten together. She had no friends outside of him – very little contact with anyone else, in fact.

He would never have wanted to sentence Elizabeth to that kind of life. She deserved so much more than withering away to a shell of her former self in a sparsely decorated penthouse with men in suits pacing by the elevator. She deserved her friends, her work, her art, her colleagues, her freedom…and her questions about mushrooms.

"Well, if the kid had ingested a toxic mushroom," the brunette was saying, tapping her chin as she thought. "…Um, what kind was it again?"

"_Gyromitra esculenta_," Patrick repeated patiently. "What do you give him?"

"Pyroxidine?" she asked hesitantly, unsure of herself. "The vitamin B6 complex."

"That's right," Epiphany nodded. "Now, a patient comes in with polycystic kidney disease and complains of severe abdominal pain."

"What intestinal catastrophes are seen more commonly in patients with this condition?" Patrick finished, toying with his shoelaces as he waited for her to formulate a response.

"Bowel perforation and…"

"…Diverticulitis," came a soft voice from outside the facility. Four pairs of eyes swung around to see Elizabeth's grandmother, nurse Audrey Hardy, standing with her hands clasped politely at her waist as she waited for the officer to let her in to the holding cell facility.

Elizabeth's jaw dropped as her grandmother walked over, her one-inch heels clicking on the polished tiles. "Gram? What are you doing here?"

Audrey reached for her youngest grandchild's hands through the bars when Elizabeth approached them, and clasped them firmly. "Oh, darling, I came as soon as I could. Alan said that you and Patrick had been…arrested?"

The older doctor sheepishly swung his long legs off the bench and shuffled over, rubbing the back of his head as he fidgeted in front of the hospital's most senior nurse. "Guilty as charged, Mrs. Hardy."

The old woman's pale blue eyes darted to Patrick's dark chocolate ones, a frown of disapproval pinching her lips. She knew all about the younger Drake, and if the stories about him were true, then he really was quite the renegade.

Elizabeth anticipated what her grandmother was thinking and vehemently shook her head. "Oh, no, Gram, it's not what you think. Patrick's not responsible for my being here."

Audrey glanced at Jason, pursing her lips when the enforcer stared blandly back, but folded his hands in his lap as a sign of greeting and respect. "Elizabeth, dear, I don't have the details and I would really like to know-"

"It's kind of a long story, Gram," the brunette sighed, waving Patrick away. "Samantha McCall was shot on the terrace of the Port Charles Hotel. An emergency hysterectomy was done and the damage was repaired…until her charts started showing spinal compression and cranial edema."

Her grandmother's eyes widened, her lips parting on a heartbroken sigh. "Oh, dear…"

Elizabeth nodded gravely, her thumb still sweeping back and forth over her Gram's wrinkled hands. "Dr. Noah wanted to wait for the medication to take effect – knowing that there was a very slim chance of that. I was talking to Kelly and she told me that there _was_ a procedure that could be done and it could save Sam's life, but that it was extremely risky, too. So, I…"

"She called me at the villa in the Markham Islands," Patrick spoke up, surfacing once more at Elizabeth's side. "She explained the scenario and asked me to come home as soon as possible. When I got back to the hospital, she had the charts and X-rays ready for me, and I thought I could operate and fix it. But my father had already succeeded in scaring the DA, and she and her husband had taken out an injunction to keep me from operating. At Jason's behest, I asked Elizabeth if she would be willing to perform the surgery by my side with the injunction in place, and she agreed. We did this together – with Nurse Johnson – and we're all responsible for this."

Elizabeth was watching him with an impressed smile, and the young woman couldn't help but elbow him in the side through the bars. "See? It's not that hard to stick up for others, Drake."

"Don't get used to it," Patrick warned, his dark eyes twinkling. "I'm all about _numero uno_."

Audrey watched as Elizabeth rolled her eyes and shooed him away, and her eyes were soft as her youngest grandchild turned back to her. "Is that correct, Elizabeth?"

The brunette nodded slowly. "Look, Gram, I get that you don't agree with what we did. We knew that breaking the injunction and operating was illegal and that we could lose Sam anyway, but we went ahead with it and we have no one to blame but-"

"Easy does it, darling," the nurse smiled, taking the girl's soft, firm hands in her own wrinkled and age-worn ones. "Often enough, the best doctors in a hospital are those that realize the value of human life above the value of human laws."

The answer surprised Patrick and Jason as well as Elizabeth, and the young woman tilted her head to the side, her glittering sapphire orbs narrowing as she studied her grandmother. "Gram…what are you saying?"

A small, mischievous smile kicked up the corner of the older nurse's mouth. "Darling, I'm afraid you won't believe me, but forty years ago, your grandfather Steve and I were sharing the same bench as you and…Mr. Morgan."

Elizabeth's jaw dropped and her squeal soon echoed in the vast facility. "_Gram_ – what did you do!"

Audrey laughed to herself as memories from decades past came rushing back. "Oh, gracious, nothing too different from what you did today, Darling. We had a patient in critical condition and your grandfather did the same thing Patrick did – he asked me if I would help him. I was the only nurse he asked, so I agreed. Together, we succeeded and the patient began to stabilize. As soon as your grandfather looked over the charts I gave him and issued instructions to the other nurses…the two of us were thrown – rather roughly, I might add – into a holding cell. Fortunately, his position allowed him to pull some strings from the inside and we were out in twenty-four hours. But, Darling, that is something I'll never forget."

Patrick was grinning as Elizabeth tried to pick her jaw up off the floor. "Hey, Webber, you come from some good stock."

Audrey laughed at that, her pale blue eyes twinkling. "Well, Darling, what do you think of your stuffy old grandmother now?"

"I think she's kick-ass, that's what _I_ think," Epiphany muttered, folding her arms under her head as she studied the ceiling.

"Definitely hot stuff, Mrs. Hardy," Patrick laughed, crossing his arms over his chest. "You've got the good girl image down pat, but…I always knew you were a wild one."

The nurse glared at him, her twitching lips belying her amusement, and a chuckling Patrick shuffled off and flopped down on his bench once more, leaving the Webber women alone for a moment.

"I hope you understand, Elizabeth," Audrey started softly, looking directly in her youngest grandchild's eyes. "That I am very proud of what you did today. You exercised your best judgment and acted with compassion, even though it could have ended very badly. But we won't think about that, Darling. There comes a moment in every medical professional's career when you find yourself at a crossroads, dear. And all you can do is make your decision and stand by it. And you did that admirably, Elizabeth."

She felt tears prick at the back of her eyes but quickly blinked them away before they were visible, and smiled up at her grandmother. "Thanks, Gram."

"You're welcome, Darling." Audrey kissed the young woman on the forehead through the bars and squeezed her hands through the bar. "I apologize for not being able to stay longer, dear, but I must get back to the hospital as soon as I can. Day care's almost over, and I'm going to take Cameron home with me for the night."

Elizabeth frowned at that, refusing to relinquish her hold on her grandmother's hands before she received an explanation. "Wait – Gram, what about Lucky? He should know by now what's going on – he should be taking Cam home with _him_-"

Audrey shrugged apologetically. "I've been trying to reach him at the apartment for quite some time, dear, but he's not picking up the phone. If he's working on a case, I wouldn't want to distract him. It's easier to simply bring Cameron home with me tonight."

"Are you sure you'll be all right?" Elizabeth worried, nibbling on her lower lip. "He can get fussy if-"

"Darling, I know the routine," Audrey replied, her pale eyes twinkling. "A chamomile bath, warm milk, and a song. You're forgetting, dear, that I did this, too, once upon a time."

The young woman smiled despite herself and nodded, slowly at first but then with confidence. "Okay. Thank you, Gram."

"I'll be sure to stop by again as soon as I possibly can, Darling," Audrey assured her, kissing her forehead once more. "And you stop fretting about Cameron – my grandson and I get along famously, and he will be just fine. Goodbye, Darling." She looked around at her granddaughter's companions, nodding politely. "Epiphany, Patrick…Mr. Morgan."

All three nodded politely as Audrey left, followed out by an officer in uniform. Elizabeth watched her grandmother retreat from view and leaned her back against the bars, sighing. Jason met her amused gaze, and the corner of his mouth hitched up in answer.

"What's so funny?" Patrick wanted to know as he shook a rock out of his sneaker, almost falling off his bench in the process.

Elizabeth simply chuckled to herself. "The fact that the first time my grandmother tells me she's proud of me is when I'm behind bars."


	7. 07

**Note: **The medical info from the last time, per your questions, was legitimate. I did some research and picked a couple things that I felt Elizabeth might come across in her course of study, borrowing from some of the stuff that my own medical school friends told me.

* * *

**Heat 07**

Jason shifted slightly on the hard metal bench, taking care not to jostle the dozing brunette that had her back pressed up against his side. She was tucked in under his arm and was clearly asleep, despite her protests that she just wanted to 'check her eyelids for light leaks'. The enforcer stretched out his legs and crossed them at the ankle once more, his hand absently falling at her waist as the young woman murmured something about bedpans and wheelchair races.

Patrick was flat on his back on the other bench as Epiphany snored atop the lower bed in the bunked set, and the young doctor would occasionally glance at his neighbors. He had always pegged Elizabeth Webber as being a sweet, demure, straight-arrow kind of woman – always doing right by everyone else, following the rules except when her heart told her otherwise, and never rocking any boats.

That vision of Elizabeth, however, didn't sit too well with the young woman that was curled up against the most dangerous man in the Tri-State area and looking _mighty_ comfortable at that. She didn't seem the kind of woman that would cavort with mobsters, but it was clear that she and Jason weren't strangers. He had caught them talking in low, hushed voices often, deeply engaged in serious conversation that didn't seem to have anything to do with rogue surgery and everything to do with affairs of the heart.

He shook his head, clearing such thoughts away. It wasn't his business what Elizabeth's ties to the mobster were. As far as he was concerned, she was his respected, trusted colleague…who he just happened to hit on every chance he got. What she did on her spare time or during the dark days before he walked into her life wasn't any of his concern.

The doctor let out a soft sigh and closed his eyes for the first time in hours, thinking that he might as well follow Elizabeth's cue and try to get some sleep. But just as he was settling down, he heard the scuff of sneakers in the hallway and opened his eyes in time to see Robin Scorpio marching over with an officer in uniform, dressed in her hospital scrubs.

She offered him a small smile as the officer let her in, and Patrick immediately scooted off the bench to meet her at the bars. They didn't bother with greetings; instead, Robin just stood on her toes and pressed her lips softly against his. He snaked an arm through the bars to cup the back of her neck, keeping her close and at the same time feeling the tension she carried in her shoulders. Clearly, she had not had a relaxing shift.

"Honestly, Drake, my fondest wish would be if you miraculously turned out to be a eunuch," came a dry, familiar voice from down the corridor.

"Mm? Eunuch?" Jason smirked wearily as Elizabeth groggily awoke, rubbing her eyes and looking around. Her sapphire eyes landed on Robert and she blinked a couple times, gingerly stretching and sitting up on the bench. "Oh, hi, Robin. Robert."

The agent nodded curtly at the occupants, moving to stand next to his daughter. "We brought you coffee – figured you could use it."

Elizabeth smiled gratefully, rising off the bench and hearing Jason follow suit. As she approached the detective, she noted that his clothes were rumpled and his thinning hair appeared windblown. She took her coffee from Robert through the bars and handed Jason his, waiting as Robert passed Patrick and Epiphany two sealed paper cups from Kelly's.

"There are two with milk," he replied gruffly, motioning to the little M's on the top of the containers. "Elizabeth and Epiphany, yours have sugar and…I'm sorry but I didn't grab enough for Morgan and Patrick."

"He's not sorry," Robin whispered loudly to Elizabeth as the two women shared a secret laugh.

"Well, they'll just have to take theirs black and plain," the detective shrugged, not appearing apologetic at all.

Again, the petite brunette at his side winked at her colleague. "Dad, I hate to break it to you…but Jason drinks his black with no sugar."

Robert scowled, but the frown turned into a smirk as Patrick took a sip of his and grimaced. "Okay, there's no _way_ I can drink this swill – it tastes like brake fluid."

The agent's satisfaction, as it turned out, was short-lived. Elizabeth rolled her eyes and passed Patrick her cup, taking his from him. "Here, take mine."

The younger Drake eyed her skeptically, but wasn't about to relinquish his new cup of coffee. "What about you?"

Jason quirked a brow when the young woman shrugged. "I don't mind drinking mine plain without sugar," she explained, taking a gulp as if to prove it. "I don't know – I guess Jason kind of got me hooked on it, too."

Robert frowned, not noticing how his blonde arch nemesis smirked proudly. "Thwarted by a Spencer – that isn't right at all."

Robin rolled her eyes as Elizabeth laughed. "Okay, we can't stay for too long, but we came because we have news. Dad?"

The detective heaved a sigh and motioned Jason a step away from the group. Confused, the young man could only follow. They weren't allowed much privacy in the holding facility, but there was no way the detective could relate his report with Elizabeth's wide, innocent eyes bearing down on him. "Morgan, I have some new information that might be of interest with you, but we're both going to have to be entirely straight with each other. Anything you say stays between us – I won't be using it against you at a later time."

Jason didn't reply to that, and his features conveyed nothing of whether he trusted the detective or not. Not fazed by the lack of response, Robert wrapped a hand around the bars and leaned closer, his voice low and confiding.

"I've been working the case myself," he started, glancing around as if he thought he was being spied on. "Independently of the PCPD, of course – I'm not about to give my brother the satisfaction. Anyway, the officers found the dead body of a man on the roof of the Port Charles Hotel – the sniper that shot your Miss McCall. They have his weapon and tripod in the evidence room right now. But…we have reason to believe now that there were not one but _two_ men on the roof that night."

His words carried in the small facility, and the rest of the group had caught the information. Jason stared skeptically at the older man, his brows furrowed. "_Two_ snipers? That's impossible – they would have been spotted. What did they find?"

Robert squared his jaw. "The sniper had been strangled, Jason. He had rope burns all along his neck."

Elizabeth gasped, and even Jason took a step back. "So…" The brunette's voice was small, puzzled. "There were two people on the roof that wanted Sam shot?"

Robin's dark eyes were on her father, probing his pale topaz eyes when Robert looked away, shaking his head. He looked…almost uncomfortable. As if wild horses were unable to drag the next words from his mouth. Jason, too, was staring hard at the man as his daughter settled her hand on his forearm. "…Dad?"

Patrick and Elizabeth exchanged worried glances as Robert gruffly cleared his throat. "No, Elizabeth. Only one person on that roof wanted Miss McCall shot. And he got her."

"So who did the other one want shot?" Patrick questioned, his dark brows quirked as he studied the aging detective.

Robert exchanged apologetic glances with Jason, conveying his regret over not being able to tell him this matter privately, and then looked away. "The PCPD officer on the case found a picture in the strangled sniper's pocket – a picture of his target for the night." A strained silence followed before Robert simply blurted out the news. "He was after Elizabeth."

Robin and the brunette in question both gasped shortly, and Robert's remorseful cornflower blue eyes fell on the young woman, who had covered her mouth with her hand.

"Dad, there's got to be…"

"It's no mistake," he replied quickly, quietly, slipping his hands into his pockets. "He had a grainy snapshot of Elizabeth tucked into his pocket. I…Elizabeth, I'm sorry you had to find out like this, but it was clear to me that no one else was about to tell you."

"Why the hell would someone be after Elizabeth?" Patrick demanded, having finally found his voice. Jason watched as he reached through the widely spaced bars that divided their cells and dropped a hand on the trembling brunette's shoulder, squeezing forcefully in reassurance. "What the hell did she do to piss anyone off?"

"Morgan, that's what I'm hoping you can answer for me," Robert replied, turning toward the enforcer. "Have you heard any rumblings about this hit?"

Jason was shaking his head adamantly, refusing to even consider the question a moment longer. "No – no. I would've put protection on Elizabeth. I- Are you _sure_?"

Robert nodded. "Any other idea of what might have made Elizabeth a target? I haven't talked this over with Mac, but was Lucky bearing down on any of your colleagues or enemies? Was he causing friction?"

The enforcer shook his head absently. "No – he's just a beat cop, nothing more." He regretted his words almost immediately, but rushed on anyway. "He wasn't involved with taking down any of the organizations in the area."

Robert frowned, thinking. "What about…you?"

Jason's eyes turned to stone as he quirked a brow at the detective. "What _about_ me?"

"Well, Luke mentioned once that you and Elizabeth had grown close after Helena nabbed Lucky a couple years ago," the agent shrugged as Robin looked on. "You've been in contact with her more frequently over the past few weeks. Could any of your enemies be using her to get to you?"

A muscle in Jason's jaw ticked as he reflected on what to tell the detective. He couldn't come out and directly say that since he had recently taken over the syndicate, the families and any other threat to the stability of his organization were reluctant to make a strike against him. His power had been established, and the only threat he faced at the moment was Sonny. "The only enemy I have at the moment is whoever shot Sam."

"And whoever shot Sam…saved me," Elizabeth murmured, turning white as a sheet as she slowly raised her watery eyes to meet Jason's. Patrick and Robin exchanged worried glances, but remained quiet. "I…I was out on the balcony by myself for ten minutes before Emily made me go back inside. Whoever was on the roof had…had a clear shot." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Then…someone killed him. And then that someone shot Sam."

"Hey, hey." Patrick reached out immediately and took her hand, squeezing it fiercely and forcing her to look up at him. "Listen to me, okay?" he asked with such tenderness and resolution that both Robin and Robert were momentarily surprised by the display. "You did not do this. This isn't your fault."

"That bullet wasn't meant for Sam," Elizabeth argued, her voice cracking as her nails dug into his palm. "It wasn't…it wasn't meant for Jason, either." The enforcer closed his eyes, remembering what he had told Elizabeth in the hospital room right before she went in for surgery – that this was his fault. "That bullet was meant for _me_, Patrick."

"It doesn't matter," he responded firmly, reaching for her other hand as Robin nodded along. "Whoever was after Sam would have found her at another time, another place. You have no control over that, Elizabeth. And if being happy that it wasn't you on my operating table makes me a bad person, well, I won't refute that."

"Patrick's right, Elizabeth," Robin agreed, her soft brown eyes boring into her friend's liquid ones. "Whoever was after Sam would have come after her another time. The important thing to focus on right now is that you weren't hurt, too."

"And that someone thought to save you," Robert added. "The sniper was killed because he was after you. It would have been easy for Miss McCall's shooter to simply wait for another location, another time to find his target. If anything, his mission was infinitely complicated by the presence of the other shooter. But instead of retreating and waiting for a more opportune moment…he decided to spare you."

"Elizabeth."

Robert snapped his mouth shut when Jason finally spoke, and all eyes fell on the enforcer as he gently reached out to the nurse. Patrick relinquished her hand somewhat reluctantly, standing alongside Robin as he watched Jason cup her chin and force her to meet his gaze.

"They're right," he told her quietly. "You didn't do this – it wasn't because of you." He shook his head firmly when she opened her mouth to protest. "You were both targets – it's not like Sam would have been spared if you had been shot. Both of you were targets. So don't blame yourself, okay? Because no one else does."

She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and attempting to compose herself as Robert shuffled quietly in the background. "Well said," he muttered, glancing in Jason's direction. "I'll be working this until it's solved and I'll make sure to keep you informed. I had hoped in coming here that you'd be able to shed some light on the sniper's identity-"

The shrill ring of Robin's cell phone – the _Pink Panther _theme song – interrupted him, and Robert paused long enough for his daughter to retreat over by the windows to answer it.

"If you can think of anything else, be sure to get in touch with me," Robert told him. "You've still got my number – use it if anything else pops up in your head. Any clue you can provide as to who saved Elizabeth would be most-"

"Sam woke up."

Robin's quiet but firm voice interrupted the two men and all occupants turned to stare at her. The young doctor swept her bangs out of her face in an agitated manner and slowly crept toward them.

"She woke up – thirty minutes ago."

Elizabeth gasped, the sharp intake of air turning into a sigh of relief, and Patrick closed his eyes reverently at the news. Robert glanced at Jason who instantly shot forward, his hands wrapping around the cold metal bars.

"What happened? Is she okay?"

Robin nodded jerkily, regretting the next bit of information she had to reveal to her ex-boyfriend. "She's…she's fine. Her vitals are good and she hasn't lost any of her memories or motor functions or anything. She…she asked for Alexis as soon as she woke up."

Elizabeth glanced at Jason, wondering how he'd take the news, and even Patrick waited with baited breath. "And?"

"I…" Robin glanced away, heaving a small, guilty sigh. "Alexis apparently just convinced Sam to let her take her to a private clinic because…because General Hospital was too dangerous. And Sam agreed. She's gone, and no one knows where."


	8. 08

**Note: **This is for Jamie/destiny2161. You're the only reason I was able to get this out, sweets! Also, how awesome was Patrick on 7/05/06? He's SO the newest Liason pimp:D

**Heat 08**

"It's better this way."

Elizabeth's disappointed sapphire eyes trailed over Jason's profile. The enforcer sat on the bench right next to her, his hands clasped between his knees and his head bowed slightly. "Jason…"

But the mobster just shook his head. "It's better this way," he repeated softly. "At least she's safe. Alexis…Alexis wouldn't let anything happen to her. Whoever wanted Sam shot came back to the hospital to finish the job. Sam isn't safe there."

The brunette sighed, her thoughts also turning toward the events in the hospital while they had been operating. They had already called Robert a few hours ago when she remembered something that she had previously forgotten in shock: that someone had stolen into the nurse's locker room where she was changing and had subsequently been killed and left there – possibly by the same mystery hitman who shot Sam. The detective had appreciated the tip and told them that he was still on the case, and now had a few promising leads.

"I know you think that she's right, Jason," the young woman said quietly, "but I don't. Yeah, General Hospital might not be very safe as of recently, but there are ways for you to fix that. She could have had you put guards on Sam's room – made sure that no one got in without you knowing. For Alexis to throw you in jail and just move Sam out without letting you know is just…_wrong_."

In the other cell, Patrick discreetly craned his ears to catch Jason's reply.

"…If she's safe, then that's all that matters. I can let her go if I know that she'll be safer…without me."

"But, Jason, you're Sam's entire _life. _You love her."

His solemn blue eyes, tortured and defeated, lifted to meet hers. "Loving someone means letting them go if you know they'll be better off."

Patrick saw Elizabeth's hands curl into small fists out of the corner of his eye. "That's not true," she ground out, her liquid eyes piercing into his. "Loving someone means fighting for them, and fighting for what you have."

Jason shrugged heavily. "How long can you fight?"

"As long as it takes," she replied, her eyes shooting off sparks as she turned on the bench to face him. "Sam deserves nothing less, Jason, than to know that the man she loves wants her."

"I want her _safe_," he clarified pointedly. "Even if that means I can't be with her."

Her eyes shimmered with tears and the brunette pursed her lips, nodding once. There was never any arguing with Jason: once he had his mind set on something, he followed through. In his own misguided, noble way, he was trying to keep Sam alive and safe, not realizing that he was effectively taking away her power to decide what she wanted.

"Well, then, you are where you are."

Jason watched quietly as she turned around on the bench, facing the bars and offering him only her profile. Her eyes were downcast, trained on her fingers and her bangs fell down across her forehead and into her face.

Patrick shuffled in the next cell, straightening up on the bench. His guarded chocolate eyes met Jason's before drifting over to Elizabeth, and the doctor immediately knew something had upset the nurse. He had followed Jason and Elizabeth's conversation but it had confused him; he was absolutely positive that there was some subtext lurking there that he picked up on but had no hope of understanding.

True to his fashion, he immediately set out to cheer her up with his antics. "Hey."

She looked up slowly, quirking a brow at him. "Hey, what?"

His grin grew larger. "Did I ever tell you that rich female con-artists more than two times my age find me incredibly irresistible?"

The inquiry surprised her and for a moment, the brunette could only stare at her friend and his Cheshire-cat grin. "…What are you talking about?" His smile only grew, and Elizabeth felt like groaning. "Oh, no. Patrick, what did you do?"

The doctor's dark eyes twinkled. "Um, totally macked on Holly Sutton?"

She gaped at him, her lips pursed into a thin red line. "Holly _Sutton_? As in, Luke and Robert's Holly Sutton? Patrick, what's wrong with you?"

"Sprained my wrist while I was at it, too," he groused, settling back on the bench, pleased now that he had her undivided attention. "That Robert Scorpio sure is a jealous son of a-"

"You pissed off Robin's _dad_?" Elizabeth parroted, smacking her hand on the cold bench. "And all because you were hitting on his girlfriend?"

"Hey, she was only his girlfriend, like, forever ago," Patrick pointed out. "And also-"

"I don't believe you," the brunette seethed, trying to keep from showing her secret amusement. "And what about Robin?"

"What about her?"

"I'm surprised she didn't take her machete and whip it between your eyes!"

"Nah – she kissed my hand and made it all better."

"Pig."

The doctor only grinned triumphantly. "You love it," he sighed, stretching out on the bench. "Admit it."

"Not on your life," she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest and hiding her smile. "So I take it there was no happy ending for you and Holly, huh?"

Patrick grimaced. "No. She started hitting on Dillon."

The brunette burst out laughing and almost fell off the tiny bench. "Dillon? Are you _kidding_? Oh, man, and here I thought that _you_ were the absolute worst…"

The doctor rolled his eyes. "I'm glad you're enjoying this so much, Webber. Maybe I won't even bother telling you all the other stuff that happened."

That immediately caused the young woman to sober up. "No! Tell me, Patrick – come on, you promised."

But her friend just tilted his nose. "What happens in the Markham Islands stays in the Markham Islands."

She narrowed her eyes but pretended to back down. "Okay, fine. I guess I can understand that."

A few tense minutes of silence passed before Patrick couldn't take it any longer. "Fine, I'll tell you," he huffed, lying down on his side on the bench so that he could be closer to her. "But only because you strong-armed me."

"One of my many talents," the brunette smirked. "I've got it listed on my resume and everything."

"Okay, so I told you about the villa, right? And how we had to spend the night there?"

"Yup. You mentioned something about bounty hunters, too. Was that the part where you and Robin were getting it on in the bathtub?"

He nodded impatiently. "Yeah, yeah – it was all Lulu's idea. Anyway, I didn't tell you the best part. During the night, someone stole Holly's jewels."

Elizabeth glanced discreetly over her shoulder when she heard Jason get up and walk toward the two bunked cots. "Really?"

"Yeah. And Dillon, of course, turned it into a game of Round Up The Usual Suspects."

"Of course."

"So first, Anna was all like, oh, it's Lulu and Dillon because one of them is poor and the other one wants to impress the boy."

"Go on."

"So, obviously, that wasn't true. So then Anna was like, oh, it's Robert. But then Robert blasted her by saying that she had practically slept on top of him the night before, so he couldn't have gotten up and stolen the jewels with her like that."

"Okay, that's a little disturbing."

"The visual will haunt me til my dying day. Anyway, then Anna was like, oh, it's Luke, he's a total con-artist and he's only ever been after booze, money, and women."

"See, now that actually makes sense. I've known Luke since I was a kid, and that's him pegged."

"I thought so, too, but then he explained that it couldn't be him. Then Anna said that it was me, and-"

"Lemme guess – Robin to the rescue?"

"Actually, no. She left me twisting. She actually told her mom that I got really close to Holly right when we landed, so it would make sense to think that I was only trying to charm the pants off of her so that I could take her money."

"Oh, man, that's great! She's a total keeper!"

"Shut _up_. Anyway, Robert stepped up for me and said that I couldn't have done it with my bum wrist and such. Finally, Dillon went all melodramatic on our butts and was like, it's Holly. Then Holly flipped out and threatened to shoot all of us if we didn't give her back the money."

"So? What happened?"

"Robin figured out that Anna took them."

Elizabeth laughed, propping her head on her hand as she lay sprawled out on the bench facing her friend. "I'm telling you – keeper."

"You say that one more time and I'm going to step on you," Patrick warned. "Turned out, Anna drugged Robert and Holly, took the jewels, and then went all Clousseau on our asses to take the guilt off of her herself."

"Pink Panther allusions?" the brunette teased, unable to help herself. "Gee, I wonder who you could have picked _that_ up from!"

Patrick frowned, reaching out to flick her arm through the bars. "See, this is why no one tells you things."

"Not true," she snipped. "People tell me lots of stuff. I never ask – they just tell me. And then everyone calls me Amy Vining."

"Ouch."

"Tell me about it."

"…How about _you_ tell me something?" Patrick asked slowly, tapping his clipped nails on the bench.

"Tell you what?" she volleyed back, narrowing her eyes. "And if you say the color of my underwear, I'm going to break your fingers."

"No, no," he huffed, waving a hand at her. "That's only what I ask you after you've had at least two glasses of wine. Anyway, I was just wondering…" He glanced over at the cot a few feet away where the enforcer was lying down and no doubt able to hear everything that was being said. "…What's up with you and Morgan?"

Her dark brows furrowed. "What do you mean? Nothing's up with me and Jason."

Patrick quirked a brow at her. "Really? Because I was picking up on some pretty heavy vibes back there."

Elizabeth straightened on the bench but remained close to the cell wall that divided her and her friend. Patrick watched her quietly, his chin tucked into his hands, and was about to say something when Epiphany spoke up.

"Drake, you leave Elizabeth alone and you put those _pretty heavy vibes_ of yours back where you found them."

The nurse smirked in her colleague's direction. "That's okay, Epiphany, I don't mind answering. Patrick, there's nothing _up_ between me and Jason. What you heard was us talking about…about how he's going to walk away from Sam because it's too dangerous for him to be near her."

The doctor glanced over at the man in question, noticing that he had closed his eyes. "And I take it you don't approve."

She frowned, her lower lip sticking out in a troubled pout. "Nope. Staying away from someone just because of the danger isn't the answer to anything."

Her voice was softer now, and Patrick quirked a brow at her. Finally, he got up from his stomach and scooted over to the far edge of the bench so that he was sitting right next to her. "You sound like you're speaking from experience."

Elizabeth remained staring at the floor. "…Yeah. Maybe." Her friend waited for her to continue, but a long moment passed before she did so. "He tried the same thing with me once…twice…maybe three times. I lost count."

"I'm sorry?"

"Yeah, me, too," she murmured with a chuckle, turning her face to look directly into his eyes. "Jason and I used to date once."

The doctor's eyes widened and he nodded slowly, his lips pursed together as he considered it. "My Girl Scout image of you is just destroyed, Webber. _Destroyed_."

She laughed and swatted his shoulder. "It was a long, long time ago. It was after we all thought Lucky had died and I…I needed a shoulder. So Jason and I met up one day and we…I don't know, we became friends. Then things got a bit complicated in town and he told me that he couldn't see me any more."

"Because of the danger."

"Mm-hmm." She didn't look over to the cots three feet away. "And then about a year or two later, he came back and things were kind of rocky between me and Lucky. I think I kind of asked him to stay away that time."

"Because of the danger…to your relationship with your husband?"

"Mm-hmm." She blinked, staring at her fingers and playing with her wedding band. "And then a few years after that, he came back again and things got complicated in town once more. I…I was shot in the shoulder and – don't look at me like that, Patrick, it wasn't anything serious – and he told me that he couldn't see me any more because of the danger."

Patrick watched quietly and kept his mouth shut this time. He was beginning to see a pattern here – one that he never would have suspected otherwise, if the four of them hadn't been crammed into the same holding area.

"It didn't really matter, because we split up not too long after that and everything worked out for the best, but…I've seen him do this before. Staying away from someone just because you want them safe isn't the answer to the problem. It's just another problem – not to mention selfish. You're just sentencing yourself and the other person to a lot of pain and heartache…and the whole 'I want you safe because you matter to me' thing just doesn't cut it, Patrick."

She shook her head, her eyes glistening with unshed tears, and finally turned toward the cots. Jason's eyes met hers instantly, blue on blue, as the enforcer lay on his back and simply stared back at her.

Elizabeth swallowed and shook her head once more, their eyes still connected. "Love shouldn't be safe."


	9. 09

**Heat 09**

"There's our little jailbird." Luke Spencer wore a crooked grin as he strolled down the hall toward the holding facility, a few steps behind a very worried Lulu. "Way to shoot the sheriff, Daughter-In-Law."

Elizabeth smiled wearily and slowly slid off the bench, making her way toward her in-laws. Lulu barely waited for the armed officer to fully open the door and lead them in; instead, she squeezed right past him and made a beeline for her older sister.

"Liz," she sighed, doing her best to hug the older woman between the bars. "We just got back from the Islands – hey, Mister Patrick – and heard that you got tossed in the slammer. What the hell happened? I mean, we know the official story and stuff, but….what the hell happened?"

Elizabeth shrugged, glancing over as Patrick shuffled forward as well to greet the Spencers. "You know about Sam's surgery." Luke and Lulu nodded. "Well, then you know that we performed it without proper authorization and Alexis took us down."

Lulu frowned, her small hands curling around the cold bars. "But…but, Sam's awake. What's the problem?"

"The problem is that Alexis Davis-Lansing _sucks_," Patrick muttered. "She's going after trained medical personnel when underground mafia bosses roam the streets freely." He considered his words for a moment then looked over at Elizabeth's cellmate. "…No offence, Jason."

The enforcer simply shrugged in reply, still lying on his back on the small cot. Elizabeth sighed and brushed her bangs out of her face, forcing a brave smile for her worried sister-in-law. "Don't worry, Lu, it won't hold up," she assured the girl, stroking her hand. "It's just like you said – Sam woke up. Alexis will get a call from the Mayor's department and suddenly start singing the hero song instead of the renegade doctor one, and we'll be sprung."

"Sooner or later," Patrick agreed with a shrug. "Although I'm personally betting on later."

"You are _such_ a downer, do you know that?" Lulu frowned, her hands on her hips. "Even on the island – you just went around peeing on everyone's parade. I'm telling you, Mister Patrick, this whole pessimist thing you've got going on is majorly detracting from your hotness."

Patrick opened his mouth, but Luke stopped him with a pointed glare.

"Junior, you so much as spit one of your crusty lines at my Gumdrop and I'm going to pull some strings and make sure they've got you on some sort of rock-breaking chain gang come morning."

Elizabeth chuckled when her friend rolled his eyes. "Hey – he'd do it, too." She elbowed him roughly and then turned to her father-in-law. "Thanks for dropping by, though, really. Have you had a chance to see Robert yet?"

Lulu looked up at Luke, who nodded. "Yeah, I got a call from him as soon as we touched down. He's working the case himself and he says he's got a few promising leads that he's tracking down right now. Don't you worry, darlin'. Scorpio may be a lot of things – a crook, a cheat, a miser, a deadbeat-" he stopped to take a breath. "-a bounty hunter, a scallywag, a turncoat, a goody-goody and a guy in desperate need of some foot-flogging – but he's a detective first and foremost. He'll figure it out and get you four the hell out of here."

Elizabeth nodded confidently, biting her lip. "Yeah, I know. I know there are tons of people right now trying to get us sprung."

"Dad's going to talk to Natasha – I mean, Alexis – himself," Lulu supplied helpfully. "Aren't you, Dad?"

The older man was nodding. "I'll see if I can't knock some sense into the old girl. Natasha and I – we go way back. I'll see what I can do."

The brunette smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Luke. Justus is already on the case, and I bet Ric has been trying to talk to her, too. Robert said that Alan already had word on it and is standing by us, too. And I know that Lucky will do his best to pull strings inside the PCPD and get us out."

Her hesitant smile faded slightly when Luke and Lulu exchanged uncomfortable glances. "…What? What is it?"

Luke scratched the back of his head, shifting his weight from foot to foot, and Elizabeth's smile turned to a frown.

"What aren't you guys telling me?"

Lulu let out a small sigh and grasped her sister's hand through the bars. "Liz, we didn't want to make you worry, but…"

"Darlin', we've been trying to get in touch with Lucky," Luke informed her regretfully. "Ever since we got back and got Robert's call, we've been trying to call your place. We tried from the bar, from the Brownstone when I went to check in with Barbara, and even right outside the PCPD."

"He's not picking up," Lulu finished in a small voice. "I called Nikolas and he said he tried once or twice yesterday, but Lucky's not answering."

Patrick exchanged glances with Jason, who was alert now and also looking at the young nurse. Slowly, the doctor dropped a light hand on her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.

Elizabeth was nodding slowly, her lips pursed together and stretching in a small, forced smile. "Okay. Okay, that's okay. He's probably asleep – he hasn't been feeling well lately. Okay. I know that when he hears the news, he'll come down as soon as he can. Yeah, that's what he'll do. He's probably just asleep. Thanks for telling me, though."

Luke and Lulu exchanged discreet glances. The girl opened her mouth to say something but her father's hand on her back stopped her. He shook his head just a fraction of an inch when her questioning eyes turned up to meet his, and smiled for his daughter-in-law.

"You take care, darlin'," the older man said, taking his daughter by the hand. "I would've slipped you a shiv, but I forgot it at the Brownstone. Would've come in handy if Junior over there got too frisky."

Patrick glared at him as the brunette chuckled.

"We'll be back soon," Lulu promised as her father all but dragged her away. "And we'll try to call Lucky again."

"Sit tight, Elizabeth," Luke repeated, his serious blue eyes meeting hers as the guard locked up the facility. "We're not going to let you rot in here."

The nurse nodded and smiled, even waved as her father- and sister-in-law disappeared from sight. As soon as they were gone, she heaved a heavy sigh and rubbed her temples, resting her forehead against the bar.

Patrick shifted, uncomfortable with her troubled expression. Abruptly, he reached out and poked her in the stomach through the bars. "Hey."

"Hey, what?" she groused, slapping his hand away.

"Cheer up," he replied simply. "Like you said, your husband wouldn't let you stay here. And we've got Justus, Alan, the Scorpios _and_ the Spencers working overtime trying to get us out. It'll be all right – you'll see."

"Patrick Drake," she murmured, quirking him a half-smile. "You have a heart after all."

He narrowed his eyes at the amusement in her voice. "Hey, I could always just hit on you, you know."

Elizabeth chuckled, patting his arm through the bars. "Don't worry about me, Patrick. I can handle a little jail time. I'm a lot tougher than I look, you know."

The doctor grinned, leaning a hip against the bars. "Oh, yeah, you've got 'hardened criminal' written all over you."

The brunette's sapphire eyes twinkled. "Actually…"

Patrick's grin turned into a frown and he exchanged quizzical glances with Jason, who only shrugged. "What's that supposed to mean?" Her grin grew larger. "Oh, no. Elizabeth, what did you do?"

The brunette giggled despite herself. "Did I ever tell you about the time I dressed up as a hot biker chick and walked into an Atlantic City biker bar with Lucky to help save Luke?"

The doctor's jaw dropped. "No, I think you conveniently left that out at some point during our grand courtship."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and walked over to the bench, whirling around on her heels and sitting with a flourish. "What do you think of your little Girl Scout now, Patrick?"

"I think that she needs to tell me the whole story," he replied, following her to the bench. "And not just the Reader's Digest version."

"Well, it happened a few years ago when Luke disappeared and Lucky needed help tracking him down. We got word that he was in Atlantic City, so we followed him down and came up with disguises. I found these great leather pants and this leather tube top that ended above my bellybutton and this adorable little black leather hat," she started, not noticing the way Patrick and Jason both gaped at her.

"And I walked into this biker bar and grilled this one biker chick about Luke. Apparently, she'd seen him but she wasn't talking, and then her guy got up in my face and was a real jackass, so I opened up a can of Trailer Trash Whup-Ass on them and pretended like I was Luke's jilted ex-lover and I needed to track that weasely son of a bitch down because that man done did me wrong and-"

"Why the _hell_ don't I have my video phone with me?" Patrick murmured, rubbing his chin with his hand as Jason did his best not to fall off the high cot in shock.

"And then we found out that he was part of this chain gang, right? So Lucky went in to try to get him out only he got thrown on the gang, too, so I went into town and sweet-talked this really cute local into letting me borrow his '67 Mustang, and I found this totally gaudy and sheer leopard top with a black mini and these amazing spiked heels that I still have and-"

"Stop," Patrick protested weakly, covering his ears. "Let me bask in the visual image."

Elizabeth swatted his shoulder through the bars as Jason glared at the young doctor. "Anyway, so I dressed up and drove the car over to where the gang was working and I had already slashed the tire a bit, so it gave out right then. I got out and flashed some leg and asked the officers if they wouldn't mind helping poor, defenseless little me change my tire because they were just oh-so-strapping and strong."

She was laughing at the memory and using her innocent country girl voice, and Patrick couldn't help but join in as Jason simply watched on in disbelief.

"So they started changing it and I kept up the flirting while Lucky picked Luke's locks and got him out of there. Luke wasn't really right in the head back then, so he resisted, but Lucky got him away. Then the guards saw what had happened and opened fire, and that's when I got out of there. I met up with them at this abandoned little shed and we were just about to make our escape when we heard helicopters and the county sheriff on the megaphone. Luke was _sooo _pissed off at us."

She shrugged nonchalantly, scuffing one sneaker with the toe of the other. "So we got thrown in the slammer for a night until one of Luke's pals in the area heard about it and bailed us out."

"Well, criminy, Calamity Jane, that's quite a story," Patrick replied in his best Australian accent. "So you've done all this before, huh?"

Elizabeth looked up at him with a smile and nodded her head as Jason watched silently from atop the bed. "I've done all this before."

* * *

The four cellmates were all half-asleep by the time Robert Scorpio dropped in on them once more. He informed the group that his leads hadn't panned out as he had hoped, but that he had talked to his brother about the second corpse found in the nurse's locker room and convinced him that there was a very strong link between that man and the first sniper. There had been some DNA evidence that was found on the second man, and the tests were still being done on that to see if it could produce any answers. Jason and Elizabeth had thanked him and Robert had left in a hurry, but not before reluctantly telling Patrick that his daughter said she'd try to stop by after her rotation.

A few hours passed and still they sat. Epiphany occupied the cot while Patrick sat sprawled out on the lone bench. Jason and Elizabeth now shared their bench, but had yet to share any words of what had transpired earlier. She didn't renew her attempts to convince him to be with Sam, and he didn't broach the subject again.

Somewhere out in the hall, a lone clock ticked miserably, counting away the seconds that passed by. Elizabeth let out a sigh and debated whether or not to go to sleep as she heard the nighttime janitor take up his shift. Soon, the sound of sloshing water and the steady sweep of his mop provided the background melody for the drained foursome.

Jason leaned his head back against the hard, cold wall, his hands clasped in his lap as Elizabeth sat cross-legged next to him and tried to stifle a yawn. Patrick sighed heavily, picking at the stray threads at the bottom of his scrub top. He'd unravel the whole damn thing if he didn't quit it soon. Epiphany stared at the ceiling and hummed quietly to herself – some old Andrews Sisters tune that no one recognized.

The janitor was closer now, right outside the facility, but was hardly noticed. He wore a khaki-colored jumpsuit and a cap with the brim pulled low over his eyes. His nametag read _Mario_ and he worked rhythmically, methodically, moving the mop over the tiles in smooth, circular motions.

Jason watched him quietly, his eyes trained on his back, and let out a sigh. Discreetly, he glanced over at Elizabeth who was still stifling yawns at his side. "You should get some sleep."

She shook her head stiffly and avoided his gaze. "I'm fine. Really."

"I wish I had a corn dog," Patrick murmured, rolling over onto his stomach and crossing his arms under his head. "…And some root beer. And a Twinkie."

Jason frowned as the doctor continued to mutter foreign food items. "What the hell is a Twinkie?"

"It's a pasty roll thing that you can store for 50 years and still eat," Elizabeth whispered back.

"…And licorice," Patrick continued to mutter, half-asleep now. "And a Philly cheese steak sandwich…and tater tots…and pizza rolls…and stale marshmallow Peeps…and waffles…and a case of insulin."

Elizabeth smiled to herself, playing with her fingers as the janitor let himself into their facility and resumed mopping up the floor. His cart was squeaky and followed him under protest, and he kept his back to them.

"Nite, Patrick."

"…And cotton candy."

Jason smirked to himself and was about to close his eyes when he heard the janitor stop his mopping. Curiously, he peeked out through half-open eyes and watched as the man returned his mop to the cart and fiddled with the zipper of his jumpsuit. The zipper was pulled down and he heard a faint rustle of paper, and then the zipper was pulled back up.

The janitor turned and faced them, quietly making his way over the slightly wet floor to the cell. The bill of his cap hung low over his eyes, and the sparse and dim lighting further concealed his face in shadows.

Jason straightened on the bench, suddenly alert, and narrowed his eyes. The janitor came to a stop directly in front of Elizabeth, who also looked up curiously.

"I'm sorry, can I help-"

Patrick pushed his heavy lids up at the sound of Elizabeth's voice, and then his sleepy eyes flew open at her sharp gasp. He turned toward the janitor, who had straightened fully and removed his cap, and now stood staring directly at the stricken brunette.

Manny Ruiz.

In an instant, Jason was on his feet and blocking Elizabeth from the killer's view. His hands were curled into fists and Patrick knew instantly that this was not going to end well. He glanced over at Epiphany who was now also alert and staring hard in Manny's direction. Gulping quietly, he straightened on the bench but remained sitting, reluctant to make any sudden moves that might provoke the madman.

But Manny appeared perfectly calm and agreeable. His dark eyes darted toward Jason and the corner of his mouth twitched. "I'm not here for you, Jason. You have nothing to worry about. I'm here to see the nurse – the pretty little one that helps me when I'm not feeling well. How are you, sweet Elizabeth?"

If the man hadn't been standing just outside of his reach, Jason would have hauled him up to the bars and choked him instantly. But as it was, he could do nothing but stubbornly block the young woman from Manny's view.

This in turn wore on the other man's patience. "Don't spoil our reunion, Jason," he warned in a silky voice. "I've been waiting for so long to see Elizabeth again. How are you, Nurse Webber? How's your husband?"

"…Fine," the brunette replied slowly, easing off the bench and standing up. Patrick reached out for her instinctively, not wanting her to move, but wasn't quick enough. "W-What are you doing here?"

"I came here to see you, like I said," Manny replied sweetly, peering at her despite Jason's best attempts. "I even brought you a little present."

"She doesn't want anything from you," Jason seethed quietly, knowing that he was at a grave disadvantage. Manny had produced the envelope he now held from within his bulky jumpsuit; he could very well have a gun underneath there as well. He had no way of knowing what the psycho's plans were, but all he could do was make sure he didn't get close to Elizabeth.

"Oh, I think she'll want this," Manny disagreed, tapping the envelope. "Don't you, sweetness? Don't be afraid, Elizabeth; I'd never hurt you. Well, not if I had the choice. There's already such a shortage of pure, sweet girls in this world. No, I wouldn't hurt you. Don't you want to see what I have for you?"

Her small hands were curled into fists and she eyed him suspiciously. "Do I?"

Jason was surprised to hear her respond but when he looked over his shoulder, Elizabeth's eyes were glued to Manny's obsidian ones. They shared a look, teasing and grave at the same time. He couldn't put his finger on it, but it appeared as if they shared their own peculiar connection. And he didn't like it. "Elizabeth…"

"It's okay, sweet Elizabeth," Manny soothed, extending the envelope. "Look, look at what I'm doing." He slid the packet onto the metal ledge used to deposit food trays and backed away, his hands in the air. "It's up to you, Elizabeth. It's always up to you. You don't have to open it if you don't want to; you know I'd never force you to do anything you didn't want to."

He wasn't familiar with Manny's humor when it came to the young woman at his side, but Jason instantly saw the irony of it. Elizabeth had told him that when Manny first kidnapped her, he had actually bothered to stop and apologize for the inconvenience. Manny was, if nothing else, at least marginally polite to the women he held captive at gunpoint.

"I'm sorry, Elizabeth." Manny fiddled with his cap, an uncharacteristic display of hesitance and regret. He had backed away and now stood by the gate leading to the facility. Jason glowered menacingly in his direction, inwardly overwhelmingly relieved that he was leaving without a fuss. But Manny wasn't paying any attention to the matronly nurse or the doctor and enforcer that flanked the young nurse that had his full attention at the moment.

"I'm so sorry." The brunette hesitantly reached out and grasped the envelope, jerking it back and holding it against his chest as the other man watched.

"It's going to hurt you," he told her softly, still fiddling with his cap. "And I apologize for that – for the pain you're going to feel, sweet Elizabeth. But I won't apologize for bringing it to you. It's something you need to be aware of."

Patrick stood close by Elizabeth side as they all stared at the killer. He pulled the gate shut in front of him and walked back, standing in the hallway now.

"I can't save you from everything, sweet Elizabeth," he murmured, one hand on the bars in a half-hearted and peculiar goodbye. "As much as I try to, I can't always save you from everything."

Her sharp gasp tore through the silent room, and then he was gone.

Jason and Patrick stared at Elizabeth who had suddenly gone as pale as a sheet. She reached out and grasped a bar with one hand, using her grip to support herself, and didn't even notice when Patrick's hand closed over hers.

"Oh, my God," she murmured, clutching the envelope to her chest even tighter. "It was him. It was him all along."

"Who? Manny?" The doctor's eyes frantically searched her unresponsive sapphire ones. "Elizabeth, what're you talking about?"

"Manny," she whispered, bowing her head with her eyes closed. "It was Manny."

"Who was Manny?" Patrick persisted. "Elizabeth, you're not making any sen-"

"Manny shot Sam," she got out, her grip on the bar so tight now that her knuckles were turning alabaster from the lack of circulation. "Manny. He saw me on the roof at the Metrocourt. He killed the sniper that was after me, then shot at Sam. He followed me into the hospital and then killed the assassin in the locker room. It was Manny all along."

A moment of stunned silence followed, broken first by Epiphany. "We'll have to tell the commissioner to get word to Robert Scorpio in the morning – immediately," she murmured, reverting to her all-business tone because she simply didn't know what else to say.

Patrick's eyes were still on his petrified friend. "Are…Are you sure?"

"He's always had a soft spot for me," she murmured, absently fingering the envelope. "And he said…he said just now that he tried to protect me. It has to be him. It _has_ to be. I don't…I don't know why…"

Her gaze fell to the envelope as if she were suddenly noticing it for the first time. With a small sigh, she removed her hand from the bar and turned the slim packet over in her hands. It took her a minute to work up the presence of mind to take one wobbling step and then another until she was a few paces away from Patrick and Jason.

Slowly, she pulled open the tab and ripped through the paper with her index finger. Elizabeth licked her lips and hesitantly peeked into the envelope as if expecting something heinous. Instead, all she saw were a few sheets of paper.

Jason watched quietly as she pulled the contents out with her index and middle finger, then turned them over. He couldn't make out the papers from a distance, but he knew one bore text and the other was a grainy photograph.

Elizabeth lowered the packet, concealing it so that neither Jason nor Patrick could see. Slowly, she unfolded the letter and began to read it, her eyes widening with each scrawled word. The paper crumpled as she pulled it away and fumbled for the accompanying photograph, her frantic eyes hungrily swallowing the details of the grainy shot.

Patrick could have sworn that he heard her heart break. The brunette's shoulders slumped and her arms fell slack at her sides. He tried to catch a glimpse at whatever it was that Manny had given her that had upset her so, but he couldn't make it out.

Jason, too, exchanged nervous glances with the doctor and then hesitantly moved forward to her. But Elizabeth jerked away almost as if she anticipated his touch when he reached out for her and quickly moved out of the way.

Her movements were quick and jerky as she hastily stuffed the papers back into the envelope and tucked it tightly under her arm. The brunette's eyes were dazed and bright as she looked at Jason without even seeing him and blindly moved toward her cot.

"You know," she got out in a thick, strained voice. "I think I _will_ get some sleep."

Patrick and Epiphany frowned at each other as Elizabeth stumbled toward her cot and collapsed on top of the sheets, curling into a tight ball and keeping the envelope clutched tightly to her chest.

The doctor stared at her back, his eyes softening as he saw how small and helpless she suddenly looked. Without knowing what it was that Elizabeth had seen, he knew that there would be very little he could do to cheer her up this time.


	10. 10

**Note: **Please read the Author's Note at the end. Thank you so much!

**Heat 10**

"Thank you; you're free to go."

The officer turned around, finished with procedure, and didn't even take a second glance at the foursome as they trudged out into the main lobby of the PCPD. Alexis Davis-Lansing had finally dropped the charges on the renegade doctors and the mobster when it was clear that her daughter would make a full recovery – although everyone who saw Luke Spencer and Alan Quartermaine dropping in and out of her office knew there was more to it than that. In the meantime, Robert Scorpio had teamed up with his brother who had just declared an all-out manhunt for Manny Ruiz and named him as the main suspect in the shooting of Samantha McCall.

The main lobby of the PCPD had turned into a reception hall of sorts. Justus Ward was ironing out the last-minute details while Robert talked to Mac. Anna stood with her arm around Robin's shoulder as they waited for Patrick to collect his personal effects and hopefully join them. Stanford Johnson lurked behind Luke and Lulu, who were waiting next to Audrey and a squirming Cameron.

Patrick was the first to emerge, and his tired features stretched into a weary grin when he saw Robin waiting for him outside. The doctor smiled and left her mother, walking forward to meet him. She handed him a light windbreaker and a cup of fresh coffee, slightly surprised when Patrick ignored her offerings and instead pulled her up for a lingering kiss.

Anna snickered, elbowing her ex-husband in the gut when Robert groaned aloud and rolled his eyes. "I can see why you like him so much, Robert. Very…affectionate young man, is he not?"

The young couple had heard him, and Robin turned around to glare playfully at her mother, her arms still around Patrick's waist. The doctor laughed to himself, wrapping one arm around his girlfriend's narrow shoulders and shuffling forward for the obligatory meet-the-parents session.

"Patrick Drake," he introduced himself, sticking his hand out and shaking Anna's lightly. "Renegade doctor."

"Anna Devane," she responded smoothly, her dark eyes twinkling as she took in the sight of the young man her daughter had fallen for. "Femme fatale."

"Not bad," the doctor allowed with a smirk. "Sounds like we both have quite the résumé." His dark eyes flickered over to Robin's father and Patrick nodded tersely. "…Robert."

"Patrick," the older man replied in an uncharacteristically chipper voice. "Allow me to be the first to congratulate you on your release. I'd be more than happy to provide a lift home for you. Of course, I have a few stops to make, one of them being Sing-Sing and the other a Zen monastery-"

"Ha ha, Dad," Robin deadpanned, glaring at her father. "No."

The agent grumbled under his breath and stuffed his hands into his pockets, frowning at the young couple and noticing that their bodies were still intertwined. "Oh, for heaven's sake, must you _always_ be touching each other?"

"_Dad!_"

"Come now, Robert," Anna cajoled, looping her arm through her ex-husband's and winking at her daughter. "You remember how it is, don't you? I mean, I know it's been centuries, darling, but do try to remember."

Robert growled but allowed himself to be pushed out toward the main entrance as Robin and Patrick followed. The young couple glanced back at their colleagues and Jason, but Epiphany waved them on as she collected her effects. With a smile, Patrick tipped his head at the matronly nurse and moved to follow his girlfriend, but not before casting one last lingering look at Elizabeth. She hadn't spoken to anyone since Manny's visit the night before, and he was very worried about whatever was in that envelope that had upset her so. But seeing as there was nothing he could do about it, the young man simply wrapped an arm around Robin's small waist and trudged out of the PCPD.

Epiphany treated the young clerk at the desk with a scathing glare when he handed her a plastic bag containing her cell phone and wallet, along with a few other trinkets. With a sigh, she pulled the items out of the bag and tossed it away, quickly slipping her pager back into its place at her hip.

Glancing around the PCPD, she met the twinkling eyes of Luke Spencer, the town's resident Peter Pan, and smirked back. Justus smiled her way as he finished signing a few documents and motioned with his hand that she was entirely free to go.

The nurse let out a deep breath and glanced at the clock, thinking that she had enough time to go home, shower, sleep until morning, and be ready to cover her shift in the morning. She was about to make her way toward the door that Patrick and Robin had just disappeared through when a young man stepped into her path.

Epiphany blinked, recognizing one of her son's signature Hawaiian shirts. Honestly, he had been such a smart child and yet as a man, he actually thought the style made him look hip.

"Hi, Mom."

She tilted her chin up. "Stanford." Her son had the good sense to shuffle his feet awkwardly, and Epiphany could hear Jason Morgan speaking with an officer behind her. Reluctantly, she glanced at the mobster and then swung her gaze back to her son. "I…know that you two have some things to talk about, so I'll-"

"Actually, no," Stanford interjected, not even looking at his employer as he pulled his hands out from behind his back, playing with one of her favorite warm shawls. "I came to take you home, Ma."

Epiphany glanced back at Jason, who watched them blandly as an officer handed him his belongings. Hesitantly, she reached for the shawl that Stanford held, but her son was quicker. Stepping forward, he reached around and draped the shawl over her shoulders, letting her hold it together.

Quirking her a weak half-grin, the young man placed his hand on her arm and gently guided his mother toward the main entrance of the PCPD. "Come on, Mom. You had a rough few days. Let's go home and I'll make you dinner."

"When did you learn to cook?" Epiphany groused good-naturedly. "Boy, I ain't eatin' no cold cereal with marshmallows."

Audrey smiled when Stanford chuckled and watched as the two disappeared from view. She shifted Cameron on her hip, jiggling the little boy as he tried to chew on a lock of her short silver-blonde hair. The senior nurse's anxious blue eyes finally landed on her granddaughter as Elizabeth silently took her personal effects without even making eye contact with the officer.

Inwardly, Audrey mused that it was strange that Lucky hadn't shown up to meet his wife, but she was at least grateful that Elizabeth's in-laws had. Pushing the troubling thoughts aside, she beamed brightly at her granddaughter as she approached.

"Hey, Daughter-In-Law," Luke grinned, reaching forward and pulling the young nurse into a bear hug. "Boy, are we glad to see you."

Lulu joined in, wrapping her arms around her father and sister and resting her head on Elizabeth's shoulder. "See? I told you that we'd get you sprung as soon as we could, Liz. Now you can just put this all behind you – Alexis will have to think twice before she messes with the GH staff again."

"This was a bit of a PR nightmare for her," Luke agreed, moving aside as Audrey and Cameron stepped up. "Hey, kiddo, your jailbird mom's out – aren't you proud?"

The little boy gurgled happily, eagerly reaching his pudgy arms out to his mother. Elizabeth's somber eyes softened, and Jason watched from afar as she grabbed her son by the waist and gratefully pulled him into her arms. The child rested his head just under her chin, already fisting a loose lock of her thick chestnut hair with full intent to chew away when no one was looking.

Elizabeth sighed, smoothing a hand up and down over his soft Red Sox t-shirt, closing her eyes as she rested her cheek against his soft, downy hair. The baby remained quiet, as if knowing that what his mother needed most at the moment was to just hold him safely in her arms.

Luke idly brushed Cameron's fist away from his mouth when the little boy attempted to start gumming his fingers and his mother's hair, quirking a half-grin at the child. "Ready to go, darlin'? The PCPD's nice and all, but only to visit and give Mac hell – I sure wouldn't wanna live here."

Lulu was grinning at her dad when Elizabeth turned to Audrey. "Gram?" she asked quietly, adjusting Cameron over her shoulder as Jason tried his best to watch discreetly. "Is it okay if…Cam and I stay with you tonight?"

The request surprised both Audrey and the Spencers, but the older woman quickly managed to hide it and nodded emphatically. "Certainly, darling, whatever you want. My car's waiting outside – let's go, shall we? I don't like being in this building any longer than necessary."

She glanced over as an officer dragged a young man in handcuffs over to Mac's desk and forced him to sit down before cuffing him to the table, and Audrey crinkled her nose with discomfort. "One always meets such strange, unsavory characters here. Come, darling."

Elizabeth chuckled dryly to herself, holding her son tightly against her chest and following her grandmother out of the PCPD as a stunned Luke and a somber Jason looked on.

* * *

_A few weeks later _

A photogenic Asian anchorwoman's voice echoed in the quiet main room of Jake's and Elizabeth played with her half-full bottle of tequila as she listened to the latest reports on the ongoing manhunt for one Manny Ruiz. The escaped convict still hadn't been found but was leading the authorities in a crazy game of cat and mouse through the small town of Port Charles and a few neighboring areas.

Elizabeth shook her head, wincing slightly as she tried to drown out the serious but melodic voice. There were times when she wanted nothing more than for Manny to disappear and never come back. There were times when she wanted nothing more than to turn on the television and see that the authorities had come across his mangled and bloated body at the bottom of the harbor.

And there were other times when she allowed herself to selfishly indulge the slight gratitude she held for the convict. Like when she and Cameron had arrived back at the apartment after a long day at the hospital and she heard scuffling in the hallway. She had left the baby in his crib and stepped outside her door, peeking around the corner in time to see a dark figure slip out of sight. A neighbor, hearing the commotion, had called the police and Taggert had come down to find a young man with a snake tattoo on his wrist bound and gagged in the facility closet. After that, Elizabeth had wanted to track Manny down and hug him…almost.

She had no idea where Manny was, but she knew he was close. He'd drift in and out of town, but she knew he was always lingering close by. Part of her was extremely uncomfortable with that knowledge; the other part felt surprisingly safe. The police and Jason's organization had been unable to track him down, but Manny certainly had been able to track down the men that came after her and her son and did away with them.

And no matter where the escaped convict was, the letters kept on coming. The first one that she had received in the jail cell was a copy of a note from Escobar, the head of the new organization that had recently arrived in town. It was a death proclamation; just a simple hand-scrawled note to his enforcer telling him that Officer Lucky Spencer had been a former client of their drug cartel and had betrayed them by setting up his dealer on a drug bust orchestrated by himself and a few of PCPD's finest. The confiscated drugs had since disappeared from the evidence room, and Escobar wouldn't stand for it.

The picture that had accompanied it was more damning than the note itself, and harder to dismiss. It was a grainy surveillance shot of her husband sitting on the floor of an alley leading out to the docks, shooting up. Manny's handwriting was on the back, detailing the date and time. He had even drawn a little sad-face with hair and no nose.

The letters kept coming. There were more pictures of Lucky with his needles, some of them taken in their own apartment. She had confronted her husband after the first photo that Manny had delivered personally in the jail cell, and moved out for a week. He owned up to his offense and promised her that he would change. She thought he had – his mood was less erratic and he seemed happier in general.

But then Manny opened her eyes once more. More pictures, more damning evidence. And this morning, the straw that broke the camel's back was concealed inside a slim, inconspicuous mailer and left in her mailbox at the hospital. This time, there was no going back. She had been so blind, not only for the past few weeks, but for the past few years. And help came from the strangest places, as she had discovered: a convicted felon on the run was not only saving her life time after time, but he was also saving her from her own compassionate, loving nature that had often proved to be her own downfall in the past.

Elizabeth chuckled humorlessly to herself and then downed her next shot, wincing as the bitter liquid burned its way down her throat. The lime rind was soon tossed into a rapidly filling dish, and she went back to staring at her bottle.

So absorbed was she in reading the fine print that refused to stay still long enough for her to comprehend it that the brunette didn't even notice Jake's only other patron as he stumbled into the dark bar.

Coleman looked up from the other end of the counter where he was polishing glasses and listening to the news, and the bartender tipped his head at Jason Morgan. He expected the man to order a few beers and retreat straight to the little booth in the back that he always used, and was mildly surprised when the mobster remained lingering by the counter, his eyes fixed on one tipsy little wisp of a brunette.

Silently, Coleman slid Jason a beer and made himself scarce. The enforcer nodded in appreciation and slowly lumbered over to where Elizabeth was sitting. She looked up in surprise when she felt the tremors from his footsteps resonate in the stool she was sitting on, and Jason didn't know what to say when she turned and stared up at him with open, hazy sapphire orbs.

Licking his lips, he slid down on to the stool one away from hers. "Hey."

"Hey, yourself," she sighed, her voice strangely husky. "We seem to keep running into each other, don't we?"

He ducked his head, nodding once. "I've never seen you at Jake's before. I mean…recently."

The brunette shrugged, lifting one shoulder lazily. "I needed to get out. I needed some time to myself. But more importantly…" She brandished her bottle of tequila, lifting it up in a mock salute. "…I needed a drink."

"I didn't know you liked tequila," he said quietly, taking a long pull of his drink.

"I don't," came the honest reply as she filled up her shot glass and reached for another slice of lime. "But it gets the job done."

"And what job is that?"

Elizabeth turned to face him, her face partly obscured by a curtain of wild, tousled chocolate hair. "It makes me forget." She studied him carefully, noticing how quickly he had downed his beer. "Looks like you're here to forget, too."

Jason stared down at his half-full bottle, watching with distant fascination as his grip around it tightened, cutting off circulation to his knuckles. "Yeah. I am."

The brunette let out a slow breath through her nude, plush lips and rolled the bottle of tequila back and forth between her hands, looking up from the sloshing amber liquid to her friend. "Okay. On three, all right?"

"On three, what?"

She turned on the stool, nimbly crossing her legs while doing her best not to fall off the damn thing. "On three, you say what's wrong with you and I'll say what's wrong with me."

Jason remained silent but nodded, finishing off the last of his beer and grabbing another from behind the counter where Coleman had left a few for him.

Elizabeth nodded back, feeling slightly dizzy but beyond caring. "Okay. One…two…three. Manny sent me pictures of Lucky sleeping with Maxie on our bed."

"I walked in on Sam having sex with Ric."

Her eyes widened, and Elizabeth's expression of surprise mirrored Jason's exactly. Sweeping her hair out of her face with a trembling hand, she smacked her lips and attempted to outdo him. "He sent me a copy of a medical document, too – turns out, Maxie's pregnant."

Jason met her gaze openly, his eyes blank and surprisingly placid as he turned on his stool to face her completely. "I got a copy of a medical document, too. Turns out…Alexis met Alan Quartermaine twenty-six years ago when she first came to America. Sam's my half-sister."

**The End.**

**Author's Note:** Thus concludes my attempt at the What's In A Name Write By Request challenge hosted by Jeweltones. I was given her prompt, **_Heat_**.

I realize that the ending for this story was abrupt, but I warned you of my postmodernist tendencies in the beginning. Was the paternity reveal a bit unnecessary? Perhaps. Was it ridiculously hilarious to me? Definitely.

I want to thank you readers who have replied to this story and I apologize if I am in any way disappointing you with this abrupt and uncomfortable ending. I know there are tons of little plot bunnies and secrets and loose ends that could possibly extend the ending of this tale, but I was not interested in following those through when I started this story.

This story was meant to be contained mostly within two small jail cells and to chronicle a few crucial conversations, and I feel as if I have done that to my own satisfaction.

What happens next, after the "The End", is up to all of you. Thank you so much for your support and encouragement.


End file.
